New Plan Nord calls for smaller investment as metal, mineral prices tumble – Montreal Gazette
April 8, 2015
From the start, the Quebec government’s Plan Nord strategy to develop the resource-rich northern regions of the province has been more about marketing than anything else.
First conceived by then-premier Jean Charest in 2011, it called for $80 billion in public and private investment over 25 years. But critics pointed out that many of the projects would have gone ahead anyway and that the whole operation was a convenient way for Charest to grab some headlines.
Four years later, the current version of the Liberal government has dusted off the Plan Nord and relaunched it. True to form, the announcement Wednesday was a slick marketing presentation with a lot more style than substance.
