Tens of thousands of dollars for parties and more than a million for company vehicles: the transport companies in the metropolitan area are making numerous expenditures, despite their enormous structural deficit.
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In addition to an influencer marketing agency worth nearly $10,000, the Exo organization spent $148,700 to purchase two Mitsubishi Outlander hybrid cars.
Screenshot TVA News
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is not spared; it reportedly paid $1.1 million for 18 Ford Mustang Mach-E cars. Over the past three years, it has also purchased $99,000 worth of insulated bottles.
TVA News Screenshot
On the South Shore of the metropolis, the Longueuil Transport Network (RTL) spent $46,990 on a “recognition party.” It also purchased $94,000 worth of new furniture and paid $120,700 to revamp its brand image.
TVA News Screenshot
Taxpayers would therefore be furious at these “unnecessary” expenses, while fares increase every year and a registration tax was imposed on them at the beginning of the year, while transport companies repeat that they “lack of money”.
Sarah V. Doyon, executive director of Trajectoire Québec, says it’s “normal” to feel frustration. “We’re trying to get the best use of public funds from transit companies, just like any other organization.”
A significant deficit
The director of the non-profit organization specifies, however, that the deficit of all the transport companies in the metropolitan region stands at $560 million. Even if these disbursements had not taken place, the organizations would still have a very significant structural deficit.
For her, company vehicles are a completely acceptable expense. Other payments, like parties and bottles, are harder to justify, she admits.
Regarding the registration tax, the director responds by saying that those who complain have not understood “the order of magnitude of the challenge we find ourselves in.”
She also specifies that the price of a driving license was inexpensive in recent years, since the “SAAQ coffers are overflowing”. It is therefore “important to take things into account, all the same,” notes Mme Doyon.
“That said, I think transportation companies really need to evaluate every single expense they have to make sure there are no surprises,” she says. “Every dollar should be valued and invested in the service.”
Watch the full interview in the video above.
