Collective transportation is a mission of the Quebec state, and “for obvious reasons,” replied Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante on Thursday to the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Geneviève Guilbault. The mayor of Quebec, for his part, accused the minister of bringing Quebec back to Time for a peace.
“The minister’s comments yesterday (Wednesday) certainly shed a different light. I’m not here to throw rocks, but it’s important for me to remind all Quebecers and the minister that yes, public transportation is a mission of the State. (…) This is for obvious reasons, reasons for which we all contribute,” Ms.me Plante, at the opening of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM), which she chairs.
She was thus reacting to comments made the day before by Geneviève Guilbault, who argued during the study of her ministry’s budgetary appropriations that “managing collective transport and transport companies is not a mission of the ‘State “.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Geneviève Guilbault
Visibly stung, Mme Plante invited the minister “to come to the metro in the morning, to come take the bus to Laval, then wait a long time in the suburbs because there is only a bus that passes once an hour.”
His counterpart from Quebec was also stung by the minister’s comments. Bruno Marchand told journalists that he no longer had confidence in Mme Guilbault, but did not ask for his resignation, relying on the Prime Minister.
“I don’t trust Mr.me Guilbault because there is no vision for sustainable mobility. Transport, for her, is about developing roads (…) With that, we come back to the Time for a peace. This is not the Quebec I dream of,” said Mr. Marchand, in reference to this popular Quebec series set in the interwar period.
“Currently, Mr.me Guilbault presents no vision. It’s super disappointing. It takes us back to the 60s, with a ministry of sustainable mobility, which she herself called “sustainable mobility”, for which there are only the roads that matter,” added the mayor of Quebec.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand
Valérie Plante believes that the investments Quebec made in public transport during the pandemic – estimated at around two billion – should not be used as an argument to justify less government money.
“Thank you, Madam Minister, but it was necessary, just as we would have supported the reconstruction of a bridge or a road,” persisted Mme Plante, recalling that during this time, the cities extended and increased the tax on registration to all 450. “We put on our pants, it wasn’t fun, but we did it, because We found that it was a way of providing a source of income. »
To those who wonder “why the people of Baie-Comeau should pay for public transportation in the metropolitan region”, Mme Plante retorts “that the metropolitan region is half of the population of Quebec.” “We support the state’s mission which is to support the mining industry in Abitibi (…) and the forestry industry in Saguenay,” she illustrated.
Patience, the watchword
His speech concluded with the adoption of a CMM resolution. The latter formally asked the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM) to wait for its executive committee to meet with the Minister of Transport, so that she can specify the government contribution to public transport, “before adopting any decision aimed at to reduce the service offering.
In 2025, in Greater Montreal alone, the shortfall of transportation companies is estimated at $561 million. To date, “the financial contribution of the government of Quebec is limited to only 147.1 million,” indicated Thursday the director general of the CMM, Massimo Iezzoni.
“This level of financial assistance is insufficient and would leave more than 414 million to be borne by municipalities, the Metropolitan Community of Montreal, users, motorists and transport operators in reduced service,” he said. .
As for the performance audits, which the government is currently conducting on the ten transport companies, “they were planned for May, but we are told that they will arrive in September,” denounced the mayor. “The meeting we want with the minister (…) we are told that it will be in June. All of this puts us in a situation where we don’t make the right decisions, we don’t think intelligently. »
“I want to say to the government: we are here, we will continue to think, to find solutions. But please help us help you, help us ensure citizens get value for money. We must ensure that our current transport system does not fall apart,” concluded Ms.me Plant.
reference: www.lapresse.ca