The Prime Minister first insisted on the $320 million invested by his government to decontaminate land deemed strategic in various cities in Quebec, a way of reuse land rather than sprawl
and to welcome companies in fields of the future
.
Unsurprisingly, the Prime Minister quickly turned to the third link project, criticized from all sides as an incentive to urban sprawl.
We have big ambitions for Quebec
said the Prime Minister. Yes, there is a part that will be done with densification. But we will have to ensure that we continue to develop Chaudière-Appalaches, we will have to continue to develop the regions.
If we want people to take public transit from Lévis to Québec, downtown to downtown, we can’t ask them to take the grand tour
said the Prime Minister, criticizing the location of the two existing bridges, stuck on top of each other
.
The mayor of Québec, host city of these meetings of theUMQ, says it agrees with the government’s desire to occupy and develop Quebec territory. However, he considers that the 3rd link is not consistent with this objective.
Occupying the territory does not necessarily mean that people inhabit a space to go 50, 100 km further to work there or do what they have to do in their personal life.
said Bruno Marchand in a press scrum.
He also has serious reservations about the environmental impact of the project, at a time when there is a urgency to act
to combat climate change.
” When we say that we want to rebalance the east of Chaudière-Appalaches with the East, it is not something that currently works with the logic of reducing our greenhouse gases. There isn’t a scientist who could agree with that. »
His Lévis counterpart, Gilles Lehouillier, does not believe that the third link project goes against the government’s objective of densification, which he supports.
The 3rd link responds to a capacity limit that we no longer have. The idea of the 3rd link, it should not be forgotten, is to connect existing highways and promote transport between the two shores
he argues.
On the question of the territory, the mayor of Lévis is however of the opinion that it would be preferable for the Legault government to publish its governmental orientations in terms of land use planning before the next election. These orientations guide the MRC in the development of their development plans and the municipalities in the design of their urban plans.
The Legault government will soon unveil a policy on land use planning, but the orientations that support it will not be adopted before 2023, i.e. after the next election.
Promote housing construction
During his speech in Quebec City, Premier François Legault also pledged to legislate quickly to expand municipalities’ right of first refusal, allowing them to seize land or buildings as a priority to build social or affordable housing. .
Currently, only the City of Montreal has such powers.
We will give you a right of first refusal on land in your municipalities by the end of this session.
he promised.
The Prime Minister will have to move very quickly to achieve this objective, because there are only three weeks of work left before the June 10 adjournment.
In a possible second mandate, he also undertakes to facilitate by legislative means the expropriation process undertaken by the municipalities.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca