Yes, Audax, that would be a silver lining to some difficult...

Yes, Audax, that would be a silver lining to some difficult conditions in north America. (and I don't think it would be the smoke that would slow the rigs down, more the risk that the drilling causes new fires).

The French first claimed what is now Quebec in 1534 and lost the colony of New France in the mid-1770's to the Brits. From an outsider's view it seems that Quebec still retains much of its Frenchness, obviously in its language but also perhaps in its public administration. And so we are stuck with a provincial level government agency giving a very good impersonation of a French waiter...

The then Galaxy first lodged their initial Environmental and Social Impact Assessment application in October 2018 and the full application in March 2019. In November 2020 Galaxy noted that it hoped to get the approval through in calendar 2022. In July 2021 they submitted a revised ESIA containing additional engineering work. In mid-January this year the Government of Canada approved the James Bay project and at the end of that month the Quebec provincial government had held the final round of public meetings with the Cree people about the project. Final submissions to the Quebec Department of the Environment needed to be in by the end of February this year. After then it has become simply a matter of waiting for the bureaucrats to write up their reports and draw their final recommendations.

For them to outright reject Allkem's application would be a dagger through the aspirations of developing a vertically integrated lithium industry in the province. But by the drawn-out delaying of an approval - they took 13 months to approve the Rose project after it was given the tick of approval from the Canadian government so they do have (poor) form - would be like a death by a thousand cuts. For them to become a primary source for the US battery industry they likely need to facilitate getting the likes of Corvette, Moblan and Adina into production long before 2030 imo or else the yanks will develop alternative supply chains. The Quebec Government can show they are up to the task by expediting the approval of the James Bay project.