“Let’s stop fooling around” about the tramway, says Claude Villeneuve

Now that the Caisse de dépôt (CDPQI) has confirmed that Quebec needs a tram“let’s stop fooling around” and let’s do it quickly, said Claude Villeneuve.

This is what the leader of the official opposition at Quebec City Hall argued on Tuesday at a press briefing.

Even if the CDPQi report will not be made public until Wednesday and there are still several unanswered questions, Mr. Villeneuve argued that it is time to put an end to the “dithering” which has caused a lot of “waste of time and in money.

“Let’s stop fooling around. It must move forward and everyone must do their part,” he suggested.

The latter also wanted to pay tribute to the former mayor, Régis Labeaume, recalling that the selected project resembles the one that was on the table in March 2018.

“With the project presented in 2018, in two years (in 2026), we could have had a functional tram at the price before the pandemic when it was still possible to eat at a restaurant for less than $20,” he said. -he let it go.

The other oppositions

As for the other municipal oppositions, Équipe priority Québec (EPQ) said that it could rally behind part of the version of the tramway recommended by CDPQI, namely that between the Le Gendre pole and Laval University.

Patrick Paquet, unelected leader of ÉPQ, however issued conditions for this rally. In particular, a “rigorous” financial framework would be required, a different route for the Pie-XII sector and a referendum for each phase of the tramway. The first referendum must be held by the end of 2024, he insisted.

Jackie Smith, head of Transition Québec, said she was “happy” to see that “CDPQi made a decision based on science”. That said, “it’s still disappointing that we had to have yet another study to confirm what we’ve known for decades,” she regretted.

Reactions

On the federal scene, Liberal Minister Jean-Yves Duclos first wanted to point out that “Quebec is the only city of comparable size in Canada not to have a modern public transportation network.”

In this context, the work of the Caisse “will help economic and social partners and the three levels of government to accelerate their collaboration to offer people in the region more affordable, reliable, fast and environmentally friendly travel choices and thus improving their quality of life,” he said in a statement.

In Lévis, Mayor Gilles Lehouillier will only react on Wednesday after the official publication of the CDPQi report. The opposition of Repensons Lévis affirmed, in a press release, that “reflection on an additional link must not stop. But we urgently need to prioritize mobility in our territory.”