(Quebec) Paul St-Pierre Plamondon commits to updating his transportation project between Quebec and Lévis for the 2026 elections, and believes that the city will need to have better infrastructure if it becomes an international capital.
“Quebec must be up to par in terms of transport infrastructure within the framework of its status as an international capital,” said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on Thursday at a press briefing.
He was reacting to the exit of the mayor of Lévis, Gilles Lehouillier, who is trying to seduce the sovereignists to convince them to support his project for a highway link between Quebec and Lévis. In recent polls, the Parti Québécois is first in the Capitale-Nationale region, and Mr. Lehouillier, a former Liberal MP, has taken note of this.
“In the event that Quebec becomes a country, try to imagine a capital with two outdated infrastructures between the two banks. (…) I am speaking to those who want a country: let us give ourselves, in the national capital, mobility infrastructures that look good,” said Mr. Lehouillier, reports Radio-Canada.
Hundreds of embassies
Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon agrees with him. “All the more so, when we acquire the status of international capital, when there are hundreds of embassies arriving overnight, and there is an economic boost, we must have the infrastructure worthy of this status,” he said. In his year 1 budget, he estimated that more than 200 embassies would be established in Quebec, which would place the Old Capital ahead of Ottawa and Washington in terms of the number of foreign representations.
The PQ leader also invites Mr. Lehouillier to his activist rally, which he holds on 1er May, to discuss it. “I invite him to come and speak with us on that date,” he said.
A priori, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon prefers public transportation. In 2022, he proposed a light train using an under-river tunnel. In 2026, this project could be modified. “We are talkable, but at the same time, our decisions will always be guided by upstream work, as rigorous as we can, with the means we have, but we have a lot of collaboration from civil society at the moment , so it’s going well, then what we consider is the public interest,” he said.
What place for the car
Will his project make room for solo driving? For the moment, he doesn’t know. “When our duties are not completed, and I tell you: I will eventually come back to you with an improved version, well, obviously, we could title “The Parti Québécois opens or does not close the door to”. But that’s speculative. We have homework to do,” he said.
“We have not changed our position. However, the situation on the third is evolving in such a chaotic manner that there are certain adjustments, additional reflections which will have to… which will take place before 2026, it is obvious,” he added.
reference: www.lapresse.ca