For Quebec as a whole, there is no question of taking on Montreal’s public transport deficiencies, the Legault government decides.
Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault wanted to lower expectations in the ongoing negotiations in order to compensate for the deficits of public transport companies.
It is calculated that if nothing is done, these organizations will have a cumulative deficit of $2.5 billion in five years.
On Wednesday morning, opposition parties and sustainable mobility organizations again accused Ms. Guilbault of a lack of ambition and condemned Quebecers to cut services.
In the press crowd at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting in the afternoon, the minister made a brief statement. She recalled that the expected deficits of transport companies in the metropolitan area represent 90% of the missing 2.5 billion.
“I’ll make another offer, but I don’t think it’s up to the Quebec government and Quebec taxpayers to pay 100% of the more than two billion deficit in the Greater Montreal area,” she replied.
At some point we must strive for equity, efficiency and collaboration.
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The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbault, during an announcement on road safety. (archive photo)
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
It recently proposed a package of nearly $503 million to carriers, about a fifth of the expected shortfall over five years. It intends to submit a new proposal shortly.
At a morning press conference in Parliament, Trajectoire Québec director general and Transit Alliance spokesperson Sarah Doyon described the offer currently on the table as completely unacceptable and inadequate, as the government does not plan to improve service offerings for five years.
The offer is so inadequate that we have to fear massive cuts in services, she said. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) would effectively return to 2006 service levels, effectively prehistory, before the implementation of Quebec’s public transport policy.
Minister Geneviève Guilbault is carrying out the biggest sabotage of public transport in years, protested alongside Ms. Doyon and the spokesman for the Parti Québécois on transport issues, Joël Arseneau. It’s unthinkable. The government lacks ambition, imagination and consistency.