With the resignation of Justin Trudeau and a new Conservative government looming, we haven’t stopped hearing about the tramway and third link projects in the greater Quebec City region, which unfortunately does not bode well.
In the case of the tramway, as was to be expected, uncertainty has returned regarding the completion of the project.
Minister Geneviève Guilbault has already insisted a lot on the fact that federal funding was not finalized when the final agreement was announced before the holidays. You would have to know her very little to believe that it was a coincidence.
The Quebec Caucus has never demonstrated real support for the project, and Mme Guilbault took great pleasure in demonstrating this on numerous occasions. It is therefore very easy to rely on the goodwill of the federal government, while the polls show Pierre Poilievre as the winner in the next election.
Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have always positioned themselves in favor of the tramway. On the contrary, the Conservative leader could not have been clearer for months that he has no intention of investing in the project.
As Minister Jean-Yves Duclos pointed out in an interview in December, it would be scandalous to see Mr. Poilievre remove funds from Quebec, the only city of 500,000 or more inhabitants in Canada without a heavy structuring network. This would mean that these funds intended for public transport would benefit another city while Quebec would suffer.
But, if he comes to power, Mr. Poilievre will have the leisure to put a spoke in the wheels of an unloved project, the acceptability of which has already suffered far too much from numerous delays.
Bad idea
In the case of the third link, the federal Liberals have from the start chosen to base their position on science. But science shows that adding road links only makes congestion worse.
The CDPQI report commissioned by the CAQ government, unveiled in June, in turn led to the conclusion that the third link would not have a positive effect on road congestion.
In the case of Pierre Poilievre, who punctuates his speeches with the overused formula of supposed “common sense”, he will support the project regardless. Even if it means wasting hundreds of millions of dollars, or even billions, on a project that will not achieve the desired objectives.
This therefore means that the Quebec government would find itself encouraged to advance an electoral project. And this, even if it in no way represents a solution for motorists stuck in their cars, both on the north bank and on the south bank.
Voters have the right to expect responsible decisions from the people they trust. We will be far from the score.
Quebec Bridge
In the Quebec region, in addition to having established themselves as visionaries in the development of public transportation, the federal Liberals have resolved an issue that had been dragging on for ages.
Thanks to the negotiating efforts carried out with the CN, the federal government once again became the owner of the Quebec bridge.
A marvel of engineering that has been rusting for years, the infrastructure will thus be able to regain its former glory. Previously, the Conservatives had never managed to find a solution.
