REM de l’Est: Plante summons the CDPQ to speak out “clearly”

While the REM de l’Est has been put on hold, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, demands that the CDPQ Infra, which manages the project, decide “clearly and publicly” on whether or not it wants the City around the table.

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“The mayoress of Montreal cannot give the keys to the city to CDPQ Infra,” said Ms. Plante on Friday during a press scrum following confirmation of the extension of the blue line.

On Thursday, the CDPQ Infra indicated that it would refuse to go ahead with the REM de l’Est without clear support from the City. According to the schedule initially planned, the project was to be submitted to the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) this spring.

“The East needs it so much, but we have to plan it well, be proud of it, and meet the needs of all parties and the entire population,” reiterated Ms. Plante, who wishes “the best project for the current population and future generations”.

Since her re-election, the mayor has been demanding that the City have a seat at the decision-making table so that she can have a say in the project, which the CDPQ Infra refuses, considering that the presence of the City on various committees is sufficient. .

Also present during this same press briefing, Chantal Rouleau, minister responsible for the Montreal region, indicates that she is working “very hard on this governance”, in order to find the right balance.

“The CDPQ Infra specializes in the construction of this light aerial train, the City specializes in development, and the government specializes in financing,” she recalled.

On March 9, the CDPQ Infra presented new sketches of the project, believing that it had responded to criticism.

Reports from the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), leaked to the media in February, were strongly critical of the project, raising several issues for the public transport network already in place.