Internal government communications from 2023 reveal a significant discrepancy between the Quebec government’s public messaging and its internal planning regarding the Nemaska Lithium project. While then-Minister of Economy Pierre Fitzgibbon stated in June 2023 that the government was still finalizing the financing package, internal records show that officials were already aware of a $500 million investment proposal.
On May 18, 2023, then-Minister of Natural Resources and Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina, noted that Ressources Québec had presented a proposal for $500 million to fund the project. This figure significantly exceeded the $250 million disbursed at the time, which was marketed to the public as the primary relaunch capital.
The total public investment in the project has since reached $1.2 billion. The facility, now under the control of Rio Tinto, is currently at a standstill due to substantial cost overruns. These revelations follow a report by the Vérificatrice générale du Québec, which criticized the government’s battery sector strategy as lacking planning, clear objectives, and adequate risk management. The discrepancy raises new questions regarding transparency in large-scale public industrial investments.