Fearing a possible “waste” of public money, two of the three municipal opposition parties in Quebec have demanded explanations from the Marchand administration. about a thin strip of land purchased by the City of Quebec for $1.5 million from Canadian National (CN), while the latter had acquired it for a symbolic $1 in 2003.
Équipe Priorité Québec (ÉPQ) and Transition Québec (TQ) were reacting to information reported in The newspaper of Thursday.
The land in question is located along the railway line crossing the Duberger industrial park, in the area behind Léon-Harmel Street, near the Robert-Bourassa highway. The parcels are landlocked between the land of neighbouring businesses and the CN railway line that is still in operation.
“Egregious waste”
“Why not have agreed exclusively on the right to an easement? Citizens deserve clear explanations on the benefits of this transaction which seems to be a flagrant waste of public money,” said Patrick Paquet, unelected leader of the ÉPQ, a party which has two municipal councillors.
For her part, Jackie Smith, head of TQ, maintained that this is a “peculiar” transaction. “CN should not require this [1,5 M$] and the City should not accept that price. It’s a false price. It’s not worth that. If it were on the market, is there a buyer who would buy it for $1.5 million? I doubt it.”
In her eyes, this $1.5 million would have been better invested if the City had used it to build social housing. “The reality is that taxpayers give land to CN and CN then sells it back to them at a high price. It’s shameful,” she lamented.
On Thursday, Claude Villeneuve, leader of Quebec First, did not wish to react.
Unanimous vote
It should be noted that the decision summary, which validated this acquisition, was voted unanimously by municipal councillors, including those from the three oppositions, during the municipal council of March 19. At that time, this had sparked very little debate among elected officials.
On the Quebec City side, it was reiterated on Thursday that it needed access to a mud pipe on these lands and that no easement gave it the right to go and maintain it.
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