Marc Tanguay, the quasi-permanent interim leader of the PLQ, has a habit of repeating the same formulas like an old record: “chaotic government,” “What is the Prime Minister’s word worth?” etc.
So much so that François Legault criticized him on Thursday for his “lack of creativity”: “Same cassette again, huh? […] The same words every day!”
Tanguay got the message. On Friday morning he launched a new formula: “Everything will be stopped, with the CAQ. […] They are like a big orange cone to Quebec.”
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois should take inspiration from this. To any mention by the Prime Minister of the terrible “orange taxes” of 2022, the GND could respond in a “Tanguayan” way: “It is the Prime Minister who is orange!” An orange bag for Quebec!”
We laugh, but it’s all very serious. Because as with all successful humor, there is some truth here too.
Startup
On Friday, reporters asked Geneviève Guilbault to comment on the concerns of Mayor Bruno Marchand, who fears Quebec’s tram project has been ultimately killed.
The Minister – no joke! –, replied: “We are all working together, with the Caisse, with the city, with my ministry, to get things started and move forward… that is, we are starting… I told you.” […] We are in the early stages of all this, organizing work and submitting documents. We aim to present the report… or in any case… the Caisse’s proposal in June.”
Seriously? Did she really say she was “working with the city”? But above all, that it was all in the “start-up”?
I know the CAQ minister lives on the planet Saint-Au-Village, as she likes to say, but there are limits when you’re so isolated.
The tram project was “started”: the problems prepared the ground. About $500,000 million was spent. “It’s really much more than just rails!” explained this week the vice-rector of the University of Laval, René Lacroix, for whom it was an opportunity to rethink “the design of the campus”. Laval is “one of the universities, if not the only one of its size in Canada, that does not benefit from a structuring transport network,” emphasized Rector Sophie D’Amour.
The same spite from the president of the Quebec Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Steeve Lavoie. He regretted yesterday [jeudi] on our pages the damaging impact of the Legault government’s about-face on the capital’s economy: “For the companies directly or indirectly involved in the project, helplessness and insecurity are the predominant reactions. Unfortunately, these two feelings don’t mix well when it comes to investing.” According to Mr. Lavoie, there are $1.8 billion worth of real estate projects “ready to launch along the tram route” that have been put on hold.
To say that the CAQ prides itself on being the “party of business”. In many cases, erratic governance, particularly on major transportation projects, creates the impression of an “orange cone for Quebec.”