Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank the witnesses for being with us today.
You probably know that Hydro‑Québec plans to invest $100 billion by 2035 in new facilities and clean electricity generation. I saw the much-touted tax credit announced in the budget, as I'm sure you did, as well as the conditions attached to it.
Given the way Hydro‑Québec is set up, the idea of giving consumers back the money from the tax credit doesn't seem workable to me. Hydro‑Québec is not a facility. It's a pool of electricity. I can't say whether the electricity I consumed this week came from the La Romaine dam or the La Grande‑1 dam. It comes from a pool of electricity.
I don't see how the government can apply its proposed tax credit in the case of Quebec. In my opinion, it would not be feasible, particularly since electricity pricing in Quebec is the responsibility of the Régie de l'énergie. In Quebec, it is based on the heritage pool, meaning the electricity produced for regular people, not businesses. Even members of the National Assembly cannot touch the heritage pool. That is the responsibility of the energy regulator. It sets the fee structure.
I see that as a fairly significant stumbling block. I don't see how the federal government can intervene in hydroelectricity pricing in Quebec. It's impossible to do the math. I spoke to people at Hydro‑Québec who've worked there for more than 20 years, and they told me that they wouldn't be able to make the calculation.
I don't know if you've thought about this at the Department of the Environment or the Department of Natural Resources. As you know, Hydro‑Québec is one of the largest producers of hydroelectricity, and it has an investment plan of $100 billion, which is a huge amount of money. It's interested in the tax credit, but it doesn't seem applicable, at the very least.