Why Quebec’s environment minister isn’t going to COP 30

Bernard Drainville is seen after he was sworn-in as environment minister, during a cabinet shuffle at the legislature in Quebec City, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Environment Minister Bernard Drainville justified his absence from the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP30, to be held in Belem, Brazil, in November, saying he has other priorities and that Quebec must adapt its international action to the “circumstances.”

Since the 1960s, however, it has clearly been the Gérin-Lajoie doctrine that has applied: Quebec exercises its constitutionally recognized powers on the international stage, whether in education or health, but also in shared powers such as the environment.

This doctrine is considered so important that it appears in the CAQ government’s draft constitution for Quebec. Drainville is taking a nuanced view of this.

“We continue to practice the Gérin-Lajoie doctrine, but we must adapt it to circumstances,” he argued Wednesday during a news scrum at the parliament.

His predecessor, Benoit Charette, suggested a few years ago that Quebec could not afford to practice the empty chair policy in these international forums.

“It’s a question of managing my time effectively,” Drainville added.

COPs are usually unmissable events for Quebec’s environment minister, as important decisions are made there regarding Quebec’s international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Is this a futile exercise? journalists asked Charette, who is now the Infrastructure Minister. He refused to commit himself.

“You’ll have to talk to Bernard about that,” he replied.

However, Drainville maintains that “high-level figures” will represent Quebec in Belem and that he has too much on his plate this fall.

“Bernard is new to his position, and it’s a complex ministry, I can confirm that, so it’s perfectly normal for him to take the time to familiarize himself with his files,” Charette said in defence of his colleague.

He pointed out that he has to work on reducing delays in environmental assessments of projects, as well as on administrative streamlining in his department.

The minister also emphasized that he has to work on the upcoming parliamentary commission that will set new GHG reduction targets.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 29, 2025.