quebec missed boat on shale gas

Quebec ?missed boat? on shale gas ~ Montreal Gazette

BY MARIANNE WHITE, POSTMEDIA NEWS MARCH 30, 2011

QUEBEC ? The Quebec government should have done a better job managing and developing the potentially lucrative shale gas industry, a government watchdog says.

In a damaging report released Wednesday, Sustainable Development Commissioner Jean Cinq-Mars also said the province didn?t take into account public opinion about shale gas development, and the debate about the potential for subsequent water and air pollution.

?The fact we don't have a social acceptability in the case of shale gas is a blatant example of the fact that if you don't implement sustainable development you are going to have social opposition,? he said.

As well, the commissioner pointed to significant failures in the management of the economic return of shale gas exploration, stressing the province "missed the boat" to cash in revenues from exploration licences.

Gas wells could easily generate more than $440 million in annual royalties and tax revenue for Quebec 15 years after production begins, according to government forecasts.

Cinq-Mars said the Environment and Natural Resources departments failed on many fronts to comply with their sustainable development policies. He added the government handed out exploration licences without consulting the public, officials conducted very few inspections, and civil servants lacked expertise to exert control over the companies.

"We noticed inspections were quite rare. The departments have been more reactive than proactive and therefore inspections were not done at the appropriate time," Cinq-Mars told reporters in Quebec City.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Quebec+missed+boat+shale+report/4529584/story.html#ixzz1IHjlrLeP