UMQ conference: opposition parties respond to François Legault

After Prime Minister François Legault on Thursday, it was the turn of the leaders of the opposition parties to address the mayors of Quebec, gathered in Montreal as part of the conference of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ) which end on Friday.

The draw ensured that the interim leader of the Liberal Party (PLQ) was the first to speak in front of municipal elected officials and to answer questions from host Stéphan Bureau.

Marc Tanguay quickly returned to the statement of the Prime Minister who, the day before, had said in the same forum that there is no more room for maneuver in Quebec than there is in the municipalitiesalluding to different demands from cities, particularly in terms of public transport and housing.

Sorry, I don’t accept that the Premier of Quebec compares his room for maneuver with your room for maneuver, because for us, that’s being completely disconnected.

The interim head of PLQ implored the government to work on solutions to meet the needs of cities.

Among these solutions, Marc Tanguay promised that the PLQif elected, will cancel the decision of the Legault government to require municipalities since 2020 to give up buildings and land free of charge for the construction or expansion of schools.

It makes no sense for Quebec to decide to shovel this responsibility into your backyard. It’s a Quebec jurisdictionlaunched Marc Tanguay, to the applause of several municipal elected officials.

The interim head of PLQ also indicated that no matter who will lead the party in the next elections, if the Liberals win, they will make sure to invest $470 million to help the villages of Quebec provide local services to their citizens, as had promised the Coalition Avenir Québec during the last electoral campaign.

PSPP would like to give more powers to the MRCs

During his speech, the leader of the Parti Québécois also took the Prime Minister at his word, who had declared a few weeks ago that he was easier to go begging in Quebec what to do Household chores in municipal finances.

For Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, it is rather François Legault, the principal beggarbecause it often has to negotiate with Ottawa to obtain money for municipalities, as is the case with the Gas Tax and Quebec Contribution Program (TECQ) which finances infrastructure work underground in municipalities.

It is not a social project to go, mayors and politicians of the National Assembly, to beg again in Ottawadeclared Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, for whom there is one government too many.

If we send $82 billion of our taxes each year to Ottawa, what do we receive in return? But above all, what could we do with these 82 billion?

The head of P.Q. submitted the proposal that an independent Quebec use part of billion dollars”,”text”:”this 82 billion dollars”}}”>this 82 billion dollars to give more powers to regional county municipalities (MRC), as desired by the founder of the P.Q.René Lévesque, MRC”,”text”:”who created the MRCs”}}”>who created the MRC.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon also said he was very concerned about the rise in homelessness in the province.

We will prioritize the right to housing over many other considerations. Moreover, the Parti Québécois is committed to making the right to housing a right in the Charter of Rights and Freedomspromised the head of P.Q..

GND wants a plurality of means of transport

The co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, for his part accused the CAQ of forming a government which treats public transportation not as its responsibility, but as an unpleasant expense.

Addressing the mayors, he declared: We have a government that basically tells you that if you want to provide your citizens with good public transportation services, well, you just have to pay your employees and your bus driver less.

We must move away from the logic of either it’s the tank or it’s the metro, because there are a plurality of mobility options.

He listed light transport, taxi-bus, car sharing, buses, trams, as many means that must be considered for transportation.

The Quebec government must make it its mission to help municipalities deploy as many of these options as possible throughout the territory.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois also reiterated the idea of ​​using the accumulated surplus of $1.7 billion from the Green Fund to finance public transit organizations. This proposal provoked several applause in the crowd of municipal elected officials gathered at the Palais des Congrès.

More than 1,500 elected officials, municipal managers and partners from all regions of Quebec participate in the annual meetings of theUMQ.