Published July 3, 2024

Poilievre won’t fund tramway if he becomes PM

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Just as work is resuming on Quebec City’s tramway project following the green light from the recent Caisse de depôt et placement Infra (CDPQ-Infra), future financial support for the project from the federal government is in doubt.

Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) Leader Pierre Poilievre last week repeated his vow to not provide any funding for the project if he becomes prime minister. He had previously said he would not give the project “one cent.”

Poilievre, on a tour of Quebec in a recreational vehicle, met reporters while visiting Quebec City on June 24 as part of Fête Nationale activities. Encountered by a protester demanding a referendum on the tramway plan, the Conservative leader said, “You don’t want a tramway; well, I don’t either. My thinking remains the same, common sense thinking, to say yes to buses, yes to cars, yes to the third link.”

In 2019, the Liberal federal government of Justin Trudeau committed $2.1 billion to the project which was then – pre-pandemic, pre-inflation – budgeted at $3.3 billion. The Caisse report, released two weeks ago, pegged the cost of the revised first phase of the project at $5.3 billion. The full system, with two other routes to serve the suburbs and a tunnel between Quebec City and Lévis, is estimated at $15.5 billion.

Poilievre said the project would end up costing each household in the metropolitan region $28,000.

As for the “third link,” Poilievre said he supports the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s latest proposal to build a bridge between the eastern ends of Quebec City and Lévis. The government unveiled the plan on June 13 – with no cost or timeline – at the same time it committed to approve the first phase of the tramway project.

In making the surprise bridge announcement, Premier François Legault and Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault gave the compelling reason as “economic security” to avoid the “catastrophe” for commercial traffic if the Pierre Laporte Bridge should be closed for whatever reason.

Journal de Québec investigation found the Laporte Bridge has never been closed completely for a structural reason, and has only had to close for a total of 22 hours over 54 years for other reasons, such as a suicide or regularly scheduled maintenance.

The Caisse report examined several scenarios for a “third link” but said it was not justified; it did recommend a tramway tunnel if there proved to be a necessity in the future.

Poilievre said the decision to build a bridge is “for the Quebec government, but what I’m saying is that a government led by common-sense Conservatives will make funding available to support a third link, for the future.”

The Conservative leader had by his side during a visit to the Port of Quebec two of his Quebec City-area MPs, Pierre Paul-Hus and Gérard Deltell.

Meanwhile, Éric Duhaime of the Conservative Party of Quebec released a poll con- ducted after the tramway- bridge announcement showing 58 per cent of people surveyed oppose the tramway project, while 34 per cent support it.

The poll, by Toronto-based Pallas Data based on 1,445 respondents, also found Duhaime’s party is neck and neck with the Parti Québécois in the Quebec City region, with about 30 per cent support; the CAQ is far behind with 18 per cent.

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