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MONTREAL — Quebec is eager to safeguard its trade relationship with the United States following midterm elections that handed Democrats control of Congress, according to a senior government official.
Marie-Claude Francoeur, Quebec assistant deputy minister for the Americas and the Indo-Pacific region, said she has already delivered this message to new ministers in the Parti Québécois government as the province hopes to maintain its hydroelectric exports to the U.S. Eastern Seaboard.
“It remains an important relationship. We have a new government (in Quebec), we have briefings with new ministers, and I’ve explained how important safeguarding access to American markets is to our industries,” she said at an energy conference in Montreal on Thursday.
“It will be fun when it’s settled a bit — we’re just excited, because there are some things you just can’t export elsewhere,” she added.
Francoeur made the comments during a session at the conference about energy and geopolitics, alongside Catherine Loubier, a former Quebec government representative in New York.
The province’s hydroelectricity utility, Hydro-Québec, has several contracts to export energy to New England and New York state. This summer, it activated a transmission line bringing energy to New York City.
Francoeur, who previously worked as a political adviser in the Liberal government of former Quebec premier Jean Charest, said that the value of trade with “middle powers” in Europe was equivalent to trade with some American states.
“It’s a relationship we have to preserve,” said Francoeur, who also represented the Quebec government during a posting in Boston.
Loubier said the U.S. midterm election results will create more predictability for the energy industry, while noting that they have given Canada an opportunity to rebuild ties with Americans in the sector.
“We should run to the other side of the border to meet newly elected officials once they’re sworn in on Jan. 3,” she said in an interview, after the session.
Loubier and Francoeur both agreed that though the energy sector has been mostly shielded from tariffs, they expect Canadian officials will continue navigating protectionist trade policies. They also both noted the importance of cross-border co-operation on energy security.
Loubier previously worked as adviser to former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper and now sits as a director on several corporate boards, including for a battery manufacturer and a tech company.
She also said she is still keeping an eye on U.S. President Donald Trump, who she expects will double down on his “America First” approach in the last two years of his term, even if there is increased pushback from the new Democratic majority.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2026.
Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman, The Canadian Press
