Quebec Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault says pitch to extend pipe from Quebec City into New Brunswick must also benefit Quebecers if it\u2019s to go ahead<\/p>\n
Published Jul 23, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 8\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 4 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Quebec Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault says New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt\u2019s pitch for a natural gas pipeline to extend from his capital city to her province must benefit Quebecers if it\u2019s to go ahead.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the e-Edition, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalism and the next generation of journalists.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to keep reading.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite journalists.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authors<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n That\u2019s as Holt says she\u2019s told Legault it will do so.<\/p>\n On the sidelines of premiers meetings in Ontario cottage country, Holt says she met with Legault in attempts to push forward her call for what amounts to a new 300-kilometre pipe through eastern Quebec into New Brunswick.<\/p>\n Holt wants that pipeline to be part of the Eastern Energy Partnership, a collection of electrical grid upgrades and energy infrastructure projects to be sold to the Carney government as a priority nation-building project.<\/p>\n Legault was questioned about that possibility in a closing press conference at the premiers\u2019 meeting while sitting alongside Holt on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no project right now,\u201d Legault said in French, suggesting the proposal is an \u201cidea\u201d with no proponent to date.<\/p>\n Morning Email Telegraph-Journal<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n He added that \u201cif a project is brought forward, I would like to have more economic spinoffs for Quebec.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has to be good for Quebecers,\u201d Legault said.<\/p>\n Holt then responded that it would be beneficial for eastern Quebec industry.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking to Premier Legault and private companies and I really appreciate his point of view that they need economic spinoffs,\u201d she said. \u201cIt would be for companies between Quebec City and the border (of New Brunswick).<\/p>\n \u201cI think Rivi\u00e8re-du-Loup is an example. They would also like to have natural gas, so we\u2019re working on this so that it might be something positive for Quebecers and New Brunswickers, both.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional natural gas infrastructure would help to correct Atlantic Canada\u2019s growing dependence on the United States.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n The region currently relies on natural gas imported from the U.S., with some sourced indirectly from western Canada, although also piped up through the southern border.<\/p>\n That reliance increased after the shutdown of Nova Scotia\u2019s offshore natural gas production in 2018.<\/p>\n Natural gas is now piped from the northeastern U.S. to some markets in Atlantic Canada through a 1,100-km transmission pipe operated by Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline. It was initially built to transport natural gas from offshore developments in Nova Scotia to markets in Atlantic Canada and then south of the border, but the pipeline flow was later reversed.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there\u2019s no pipeline infrastructure to get any natural gas to northern New Brunswick or eastern Quebec.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Natural gas pipeline infrastructure exists from the western provinces through Ontario, but terminates in Quebec City.<\/p>\n If that pipeline is extended to New Brunswick, from there, additional pipe could stretch across the northern half of the province to the Port of Belledune, as well as south to Fredericton, connecting parts of New Brunswick to gas infrastructure that is currently only available by truck.<\/p>\n Speaking with New Brunswick reporters after the press conference, Holt said \u201cthere are communities that I think would also appreciate natural gas access, like Rivi\u00e8re-du-Loup and others.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo Fran\u00e7ois has been clear about what he needs for it to move forward in Quebec and we continue to work with all the different players involved to see if we can make this happen,\u201d Holt said.<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n There were previous plans, now nearly two decades old, to build a liquid natural gas terminal and a pipeline network at Gros-Cacouna, near Rivi\u00e8re-du-Loup.<\/p>\n It had the region\u2019s support, but was delayed indefinitely due to supply issues.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, complicating talks over a natural gas pipeline are other proposals in front of Quebec.<\/p>\n In his response to reporters on Wednesday when asked about a natural gas pipeline, Legault brought up prospective projects in Sept-\u00celes or Baie-Comeau, on the other side of the St. Lawrence River.<\/p>\n He also said they were ideas without proponents.<\/p>\n In recent months, Legault has mused about building an oil pipeline to an export terminal in Sept-\u00celes, on Quebec\u2019s North Shore, that would carry western energy and then ship it overseas.<\/p>\n Advertisement 7<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cCould we imagine having a pipeline that goes through northern Quebec which could end, for example, in the Port of Sept-\u00celes?\u201d Legault said in the interview.<\/p>\n \u201cProjects like that were unthinkable before Trump,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cQuebecers are saying, \u2018There\u2019s no way Trump is going to control the oil we produce in Alberta.\u2019 So, can we export it to Europe through Quebec instead of being stuck with Trump? There\u2019s openness. I feel things are shifting,\u201d the premier added.<\/p>\n New Brunswick\u2019s pitch would also aid the potential multibillion-dollar repurposing of the Saint John LNG facility into an export terminal.<\/p>\n Holt has previously said her government has been talking to Repsol, the owner of Saint John LNG, and TC Energy (formerly TransCanada Corporation) about projects.<\/p>\n Repsol abandoned plans in 2023 to build a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Saint John, citing the cost of shipping gas from western Canada to eastern tidewater.<\/p>\n That concept would have used existing pipelines that traverse through the United States.<\/p>\n The company kicked the tires in a race to supply Germany and other European countries looking to replace Russian gas amid the war in Ukraine. But the project ultimately went nowhere.<\/p>\n The premiers\u2019 meetings in Ontario concluded on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links New BrunswickNewsThe Issues Quebec Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault says pitch to extend pipe from Quebec City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-19726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"0724](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0724-lb-gas-pipeline.jpg\")
Quebec Premier Fran\u00e7ois Legault says Premier Susan Holt’s pitch for a natural gas pipeline to extend from Quebec City into New Brunswick must also benefit Quebecers if it’s to go ahead. SubmittedArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Telegraph-Journal\"](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.1.5\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-tj.svg\"){kind=logo}
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