The CDPQ report “full of good news”, according to the CAQ

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “There are some great projects. This report is good news,” said Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault.

François Carabin and Isabelle Porter in Quebec

Posted at 1:46 p.m. Updated at 4:27 p.m.

• Quebec

The report from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) Infra on mobility in the national capital is full of “good news”, according to the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault. His colleague in Finance, Eric Girard, believes that the tramway proposal is financially feasible.

Acccosted at the entrance to a meeting of the Council of Ministers, Wednesday in Quebec , Prime Minister François Legault affirmed that he intended to react to the Caisse's decision on Thursday or Friday. “I will see you over the next few days. I will answer all your questions,” he said.

But already, even before the head of government announces his priorities, the Integrated Express Transport Circuit (CITÉ) project is attracting the interest of elected officials from the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ). “There are some great projects. This report is good news,” said Minister Geneviève Guilbault without adding anything, on Wednesday.

The tramway project recommended by the Caisse is evaluated at around $7 billion. By adding a rapid bus service (SRB) on both banks, dedicated lanes and a tunnel for the tram, this bill could rise to more than 15 billion. Amounts that do not give a chill to the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard.

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“Yes, we have the means if that’s it, the decisions that are taken,” he agreed on Wednesday.

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A few minutes earlier, the Minister responsible for Infrastructure, Jonatan Julien, had not hidden his satisfaction with the Fund's conclusions. “We have before us a fifteen-year master plan, phased, structured. For the Capitale-Nationale region, it’s good. Better service to the suburbs, reserved lanes, express trains which fall back on a structuring network, a tram which leaves from Le Gendre to the beginning of Charlesbourg”, he listed.

“I think we have before us a serious study,” he continued. “For me, […] it’s positive. »

Disavowed by the Caisse in its report, the project for a third link between Quebec and Lévis caused very little discussion on Wednesday in the CAQ ranks. When questioned on this subject, ministers like Ms. Guilbault or Éric Caire said they wanted to read the report before commenting on it. The elected representatives of the CAQ, however, received a presentation on the said report on Monday.

The Minister of Education and Member of Parliament for Lévis, Bernard Drainville, who presented his apologies to the people of the south shore with tears in their eyes after the abandonment of the Quebec-Lévis tunnel last year, did not want to comment either. “We’re going to talk soon,” he repeated on Wednesday.

“Lost six years”

On the social network “The CAQ “leadership” is taking it for its cold,” he wrote.

“The report is a real disavowal of the government,” added the spokesperson. transport spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Etienne Grandmont, in a press release. “CDPQ Infra confirms that a global and structured vision of public transportation is the key to solving congestion problems and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. »

At a press conference in Parliament, the Parti Québécois MP in Jean-Talon, Pascal Paradis, for his part, was delighted that the idea of ​​a third link dedicated to public transport, as his party had proposed in electoral campaign in 2022, come a long way. “If the government wants to move forward [with a highway link], let it justify itself,” thundered the PQ elected official.

Contrary to the three parties opposition in the National Assembly, the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, for his part disavowed the CDPQ report, which according to him is opposed to the will of the people of Quebec and Lévis. “I hope that the government will take this report, will do as it did with the 400 others and will tablet it,” he said.