Bruno Marchand is warning the Legault government that he doesn’t want a “boboche” transportation project for Quebec City. The mayor of Quebec calls for the selected transport structuring project to be launched quickly, starting in spring 2024, that is, as soon as the deliberations of the Caisse de dépôt etplacement du Québec (CDPQ) are completed.
• Also read: QS and PQ want to know: Since when has the CAQ been discussing the tram with the CDPQ?
• Also read: Marchand promises to work with the government and the Caisse de dépôt
Mayor Marchand said this late in the afternoon on Thursday on the sidelines of a press conference in L’Ancienne-Lorette.
“The city of Quebec, we will work together. But that does not mean that we will accept any bohemian project or any time shift, saying to ourselves that we are ready for anything because of our collaboration,” explained the mayor, recalling that his main task is to defend the Interests of the Citizens of Quebec.
The latter added that “speed of execution” is an essential criterion for the success of any project. He pointed out the risk that Quebecers would lose out if the CDQP ever implements a large regional project that “takes a lot of time to get off the ground.”
After six months, “for the city of Quebec, we need to know as quickly as possible where we are going and what we are implementing.” If we start analyzing again, that means we have two, three, four years of analysis ahead of us, before returning to the point we were at […]This can’t be for Quebec.”
Mr. Marchand cited as an example a $350 million private project, partly real estate, near the Sainte-Foy commercial center that was filed with the city this week. Project promoters need to quickly know what’s going on with Quebec’s structuring network before committing to implementing their project, he suggested.
Federal money
On the other hand, Mayor Marchand said he understands that the $1.5 billion the federal government wanted to invest in the streetcar may be lost.
“My understanding is that the federal government will not invest if it is private. If it were the Caisse de dépôt that carried it out [le projet structurant]“I have the same confirmation that the federal government would not be willing to invest here,” he explained. I hope the Quebec government makes things safer now. He’s the one carrying the ball.”
The Quebec mayor said he understands the six-month deadline has begun to run since his meeting with Prime Minister Legault last week. He therefore expects the Caisse to present the result of its deliberations by May 9, 2024. However, the Legault government has not confirmed this timeline and the formal mandate has not yet been officially communicated to the CDPQ.
Priority in Quebec
Bruno Marchand supported that the third connection requested by Lévis be part of the Caisse’s considerations, but warned against giving priority to Quebec, as the tram was the most advanced project to date.
“We can certainly say that it will be integrated into a large network project [régional], it must cover the entire city. It’s not just Lévis […]. But we also have to serve Charlesbourg, Beauport, Val-Bélair, Les Rivières, Saint-Émile, Lac-Saint-Charles… It can’t just be a backbone and after that we don’t know what happens,” he blurted out.
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