“Mayor Marchand no longer has any credibility,” he says THE The interim head of the Équipe Priorité Québec, Patrick Paquet, in response to the “number crunching” of Quebec Mayor Bruno Marchand, who announced on Friday morning that he supports 40% of the tram.
The vast majority of the media was also forced to make a correction over the course of Friday, as actual support for the tram was closer to 36%, six points lower than the 42% a year ago.
However, the Marchand government insisted on a support rate of 40%. However, after verification, this rate was calculated based on the 90% of respondents who have an opinion on the issue.
“It is not the fault of the Léger company, because they gave the mayor the correct numbers and took the trouble to put an asterisk, but he still managed to create a number to present the population with a false 40% says Patrick Paquet.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
“You can’t do that. He’s the mayor of Quebec City and it makes no sense to see him knitting numbers like that. I think it’s a first,” he adds.
No surprises
However, this noticeable decline is to be expected, according to Nora Loreto, co-founder of the citizen mobilization group Quebec’s Desire for its Streetcar.
“It’s really not surprising because the work means traffic is currently much less flowing, but there is still no tram. This is normal, but the day the tram is installed and operational, ideas and support will change,” she believes.
For his part, spokesman for the citizens’ group Quebec Deserves Better, Donald Charette, says it’s not just a question of traffic and construction.
“As more people become more aware of data and what it means for their lives and their tax bills, support is decreasing, and that’s understandable,” he explains.
“We still don’t know how much this project will cost in total, but once people find out about it, it will go down even further,” Mr. Charette added.
Photo Stephanie Martin
“Facing reality”
From the opponents of the project it is clear that this is a message and that we must “move to another call”.
“It really is time for the mayor to face reality. His project has no social acceptance, he plays with the numbers and hides the reality from us right from the start,” Patrick Paquet is convinced.
“I really wish he would be more sensible and listen to the people because there are limits to ignoring the citizens. How stubborn can he be and rule against the will of the people? There are limits anyway,” adds Donald Charette.