A Hydro Quebec logo is seen on their head office building in Montreal, Feb. 26, 2015. The controversial legislation will see hydro rates frozen for 2020 and raised according to inflation after that.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
The Quebec government has invoked closure to pass legislation that will allow it to take control of the rates charged for electricity in the province.
Bill 34 was adopted just after midnight, 60 votes to 39, after legislature members spent their Saturday debating the bill.
The controversial legislation will see hydro rates frozen for 2020 and raised according to inflation after that.
It allows Hydro-Québec to avoid having to undergo an annual examination by the province’s energy board.
An opposition Parti Québécois member argued the bill means Premier Francois Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec government will renounce its promise to repay $1.5-billion overcharged to Quebeckers and will also impose increases worth $600-million over the next five years.
The government has argued the legislation is pressing because it would allow the province to return $500-million in January to Hydro-Québec customers – a roughly $60 credit for residential clients.
Interim Liberal Leader Pierre Arcand argued there was no urgency – it was simply a Coalition Avenir Québec government looking for additional money to finance its election promises.
It’s the third time in six months the Legault government has used closure to end debate on legislation – the last two being Bill 21, the province’s controversial secularism law; and Bill 9, the province’s immigration reform legislation.
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