Environment - Robust Development While Managing Risks - 2

Resolution #133: Environment - Robust Development While Managing Risks - 2 (Official French version)

We believe that the economic development of Québec must be achieved by a market economy, that is to say voluntary exchanges between individuals, rather than a nationalized economy or one that is planned by the government. The government should not act as a substitute for private enterprise. Rather, it should provide an environment that promotes competition, a source of innovation beneficial to the well-being of its citizens. Rules are necessary but we need to be aware that each rule generates economic and possibly special costs. They should not be nitpicking or constrain a free and thriving market. Since there is an economic and social expense of postponing material advancement, the environmental assessments will be diligent and they will build on existing best practices here and elsewhere.

Environmental policies will be based on science. They will be supported by logic and reason rather than beliefs, dogmas, or the political agendas of interest groups. Often, exaggerations or biases prevent decision-making in this field, which adversely affects the well-being of the population. Our party will always favour an objective assessment of the cost and of the socio-economic impacts of development.

Science differentiates causes and correlations. A correlation doesn't imply a cause and effect relationship. A forecast, to be credible, must be based on proven facts. A forecast remains a forecast and is not a certainty.

Science doesn't operate by consensus. The government can't transform a scientific hypothesis into a fact on the basis of a scientific consensus.