Duclos: Poilievre ‘humiliated’ Paul-Hus on tramway funding
Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
With a federal election slated for next year, Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) Leader Pierre Poilievre has contradicted his Quebec lieutenant about whether a future Conservative government would respect a federal financing agreement for Quebec City’s tramway project.
Liberal MP and federal cabinet minister Jean-Yves Duclos mocked the Tory dispute as humiliating for the local Tory MP.
Pierre Paul-Hus, MP for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint- Charles, told reporters at a July 3 ceremony to celebrate Quebec City’s birthday, “If the financing of the tramway is secured before the next federal elections, the Conservative Party of Pierre Poilievre does not intend to axe the project. Mr. Poilievre was clear about financing [the tramway project]: No. But the fact remains that if, in the coming months, there are agreements signed, we will not undo what has been done, obviously. We will not start undoing contracts.”
Upon hearing this statement from reporters, Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand said it was “good news. Now we need to get this project done quickly. It’s urgent, but not because of a possible federal election. It’s urgent because Quebec City needs it,” he said.
However, later that same day, Poilievre corrected his Quebec lieutenant, with Paul- Hus sending a message on X saying, “A Conservative govern- ment will NOT invest federal money for a tramway, regardless of the promises from Justin Trudeau.”
A message from Poilievre’s office around the same time said, “A Conservative govern- ment will neither prevent the project nor finance it. Other levels of government are free to do the project without inter- ference (and money) from the federal government.”
Duclos, federal minister of public services and procurement, seized on the Tory position at a July 4 news conference to announce sports funding (See separate story in this edition).
“If the Conservatives were brought to power and slowed down funding already granted for a tramway project in Quebec, it would be a real ‘theft’ at the expense of the people of the region,” Duclos said.
He accused Poilievre of practising “politics of lies and chaos.”
Poilievre, he said, “lied be- cause he said that all the Canadian government had made were promises to the tramway. It’s not true. He knows very well that there is an agreement with the Quebec government. … It’s not a promise, it’s a signed agreement.
“It’s really a shame and distressing for Pierre Paul- Hus and the other deputies from the Quebec City region to be rebuffed and humiliated like that by their own leader,” Duclos said.
“Pierre Poilievre yesterday clearly indicated that he had no confidence in his deputies from the Quebec City region. Pierre Paul-Hus tried timidly and in vain to serve the people of the region. Pierre Poilievre shortly after corrected him and forced him to retract.”
The QCT contacted the office of Paul-Hus for clarification of the Conservative stance on financing the tramway. An assistant replied by sending links to X statements from the MP and Poilievre reacting to Duclos’ comments.
Paul-Hus, reposting a message from Poilievre’s X account, said, “For the people of Quebec, ‘theft’ is spending billions on a project they don’t want. Despite what JY Duclos may think, the Conservative MPs from the Quebec region were very clear to CPDQ-Infra: it’s NO for the tram project! Unlike Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre listens to citizens and defends the priorities of the greater Quebec City region. I am very proud to be part of his team.”
Poilievre’s response was, “No, Mr. Duclos, it’s you who are stealing money from families in the greater Quebec City region by forcing them to finance an $11-billion white elephant that they don’t even want. The common-sense Conservatives will listen to the population, which is why the money promised by Justin Trudeau for the tramway will be reinvested in the construction of a third link.”
The “third link” to which Poilievre refers is the bridge the Coalition Avenir Québec government has vowed to build in the eastern end of Quebec City despite the Caisse de dépôt et placement (CDPQ) Infra report rejecting such a structure as unnecessary.