Quebecers one of highest consumers of energy

Critical of western oil, but they buy more gas, bigger cars, report says

MONTREAL— Quebec’s premier is quick to reject “dirty” oil from Western Canada in favour of hydro power, but new data indicates the province’s citizens are buying record amounts of gasoline, and purchasing trucks and bigger homes.

Quebecers are widely seen in Canada as environmentally conscious, but per capita, they are some of the highest consumers of energy on the planet, according to a report prepared by researchers at Université de Montréal’s business school.

Premier François Legault recently provoked the ire of western Canadians when he reminded journalists how there was “no social acceptability” in his province for a “dirty energy” pipeline from Alberta.

His comments drew rebukes from pundits and western leaders, such as Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who said Legault “needs to get off his high horse.”

Prof. Pierre-Olivier Pineau, co-author of the report on energy use in Quebec, said people have a point when they criticize the province for its public stance on fossil fuels compared to the behaviours of its citizens.

“Yes, there is a certain degree of hypocrisy in all humans, and obviously, with regards to certain positions that Quebecers take (on energy), there is some hypocrisy there,” Pineau said in an interview.

Quebecers do have some bragging rights, however, when it comes to green living, he said.

Per-capita carbon emissions in Quebec are the lowest in the country, Pineau said, and over- all emissions have fallen by 11 per cent since 1990.

But that success is attributed less to choice and more to circumstance, he explained.

“One hundred per cent of electricity in Quebec is from renewable resources,” he said. “Also, Quebecers are less rich than other Canadians, meaning they consume less energy, have less cars.”

But the automobiles Quebecers do drive are increasingly gas-guzzlers, the report says.

Sales of vehicles such as SUVs and pickups in Quebec rose by 246 per cent between 1990 and 2017, and gasoline sales jumped 33 per cent during the same period. Every year since 2015, sales of such vehicles have overtaken car sales.

“Among the 3.7 million Quebecers who had a job in 2016 and who worked away from home, 78 per cent said they primarily used a personal vehicle to get there,” the report noted.

It also indicated that between 1990 and 2016, the average surface area of a home in the province increased by 17 per cent.

Moreover, on a per-capita basis, Quebecers consume significantly more energy than the global average and almost as much as in the United States.

While Pineau’s report suggests Quebecers should boast less about their green credentials, it also slays a common line of attack against the province.

Following Legault’s “dirty” oil comments, news organizations and social media platforms were filled with comments about Quebec’s hypocrisy for accepting foreign oil from human rights-abusing countries while rejecting western energy.

The report, however, indicates that as of June 2018, 94 per cent of oil in Quebec came either from the U.S. or Canada.