(Ottawa) Federal MP for Louis-Hébert, Joël Lightbound, is puzzled by Prime Minister François Legault’s idea of reviving the third link after the defeat of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in Jean-Talon. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault reminded that the federal government will not loosen the purse strings.
Posted at 11:09 am.
“Have the reasons given by the government for abandoning this commitment suddenly melted like snow in the sun? Have they disappeared? Is there suddenly a lot more traffic between the south coast and the north coast? Have the project costs fallen dramatically? » asked Joël Lightbound in the press crowd on Wednesday before the Liberal parliamentary group meeting.
“It confuses me, as I think it does a lot of people in the Quebec region, and sometimes when I look at this whole saga I think a little bit about Le Dîner de cons,” he added. Unfortunately, the people of Quebec seem to be invited. » He was referring to the famous French film starring Thierry Lhermite and Jacques Villeret.
In his opinion, the abandonment of the Quebec-Lévis highway tunnel project only partially explains the CAQ’s defeat in Jean-Talon on Monday. “I think a lot of people in Quebec feel like we didn’t tell them everything in the last election campaign,” he noted. I think this is more than abandoning the project. »
The federal MP, who has not ruled out entering the race for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party once the rules are announced, has not hidden his opposition to the project. “Constructing one of the largest tunnels in the world for the population served, with the costs we don’t know exactly, but the bill could be high, I think there are more promising projects for Quebec,” he said.
The federal government’s position has not changed on the question of the third link, emphasized the Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault. “The federal government does not finance the construction of new road infrastructure. Of course, we finance the maintenance of the road network and local public transport. We are very excited to see how the Quebec tram project progresses. »
Prime Minister François Legault acknowledged that the setback to his flagship promise in the Quebec region is the reason for voters’ loss of confidence. The Parti Québécois won the CAQ seat in the riding of Jean-Talon in Monday’s byelection. This means that the independence group is returning to the Quebec region, where it had disappeared since 2018.