Our Power

What do La Caisse de dépôt et placements, la Société des alcools du Québec and Hydro Québec have in common? Simple. We own them. Every Quebecer, whether employed or not, whether housed or not, is a co-owner of them.

Serious drinkers boast of SAQ’s quality of service, of how it is possible to find rare brands and to be taken seriously. I went there recently to buy a bottle of an Italian wine to thank an Italian-Montrealer for a service. I was convinced there must exist a wine that carried her family name, and I was not disappointed, but the salesclerk, when I mentioned the purpose of my search, observed that it was Italian, yes, but it was a fairly standard table wine, not a wine to offer as a thank you. The Caisse de dépot has proven that it can hold its own in a challenging international market, and while those organizations are always riding a roller coaster, they have earned my confidence. Hydro Québec, though, holds a special place for me. It is a well-run green corporation. Yes, they did some unforgivable things in the past, taking land and having to be hounded to respect the sources, a process still unresolved with Newfoundland, but their product is among my most important annual purchases. And yet, this huge company puts a lot of time and thought into showing me how I can use less … electricity.

Our parents probably voted for the party that created Hydro Quebec. It was an easy vote for many because he was following Maurice Duplessis’s appointed replacements. Hydro Quebec, created during Jean Lesage’s tenure, is identified with René Levesque and Robert Bourassa. The idea of a crown corporation was much more popular back then, but the English press was undermining our confidence in the capability of governments to administer. Sadly, now, we know that a lot of the press is controlled by big business. How could they make a decent profit if we, the people, owned the big primary services? CN Rail, Petrocan, Air Canada, Northern Canada Power Commission. Imagine our stupidity as a nation to not keep the railroads in public hands – right back in the beginning. Some want to give even the public roads away -why? Because we do not appreciate that we own them, that they are ours.

The most disgraceful abandonment, though, was the Avro Arrow, stopping Canada in its role as a world leader in aviation. Every time I think of John Diefenbaker, he wears that decision. He hurt me directly, as well as all of us when he used his power to destroy the Avro Arrow, to destroy Canada’s leadership role in aerospace. He broke his trust.

Canada and the provinces still own dozens of these public corporations. Why have we accepted media propaganda that they are a burden? Look what the private sector is accomplishing in the United States. It wasn’t the public sector that caused the 2008 crash, it was business greed. Canada managed to sidestep that one, thanks in part to the role of Mark Carney, saving our own economy in the process. The US never really recovered from this kind of big business greed. Is this what we want?

Quebec, for whatever reason, has managed to maintain some of its prominent public corporations, but the same media contamination is poisoning minds here. I remember my shock when I heard Philippe Couillard defending himself from some attack by revealing his relatively modest net worth. His opponent, François Legault, had been the founder of Air Transat and had a very large net worth. I knew that people would see Legault, as a result, as being much larger and better suited than Couillard. Money doesn’t just talk, it drowns speech. People worship wealth. It did not surprise me to hear Legault float the idea of selling Hydro Québec.

Hydro Québec’s website helps you chart your own consumption. If you fill out a questionnaire on your usage, you will see how you compare with similar-sized homes on a simple graphic display, but more than that, there are pages that give you additional hints and even programs that you can sign up for, allowing you to benefit from using less during peak demand periods when Hydro feels stretched to supply. Of course there is a reason for helping us reduce our costs. They have clients elsewhere, in the US and Ontario, for instance, that will pay – will pay us – very well.

Hydro Québec rises to the challenge of keeping the power flowing through woodlands. I live on a long, private road and I asked Hydro if I could help them identify trees that were at risk of falling on their high-voltage lines. An agent came out to walk the line with me and marked the trees that he agreed were a danger, telling me that a part of the problem is respecting the interests of their clientele (and owners) who value the wild forest. He said that if I were willing, they could simply open a swath right along their line following our little road. I observed that my neighbours would never forgive me.

Quebec did not invent public corporations. It just kept them, and keeping Hydro Québec means that we, the co-owners of that green corporation, are a part of it. Hydro Québec is the very soul of Quebec, what I deeply respect about this crazy place.

Do not believe that you – we – have no power. We have the power of our shared ideas. If, like me, you wish to save institutions like Hydro Québec, just talk them up. With friends, with strangers. Show your pride. You will see. You don’t have to talk about it with anyone you do not wish to talk with. They don’t matter, even if they are your elected representatives. You matter. They need you. You – we – are our power.