TramCité

TRAM TRACKER: TramCité planning moves forward despite Ottawa-Quebec funding feud

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

TRAM TRACKER

TramCité planning moves forward despite Ottawa-Quebec funding feud 

 Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Work continues on Quebec City’s tramway project, called TramCité, despite a war of words over which government is paying what and when for the urban transit system.

In what is being likened to a political ping-pong game, the Coalition Avenir Québec government is demanding the federal Liberal government hand over funds promised for the tramway.

The backdrop to the dispute is the prospect of the election of a Conservative government led by Pierre Poilievre, who has said he will not give “one cent” to Quebec City’s tramway, but redirect funds promised by the Liberals to the building of a bridge or tunnel across the St. Lawrence River.

Last week, Jonatan Julien, the Quebec minister responsible for infrastructure and minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region, wrote to federal Infrastructure Minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, demanding Ottawa pay up immediately.

In a letter obtained by local media, Julien asks Ottawa to pay $1.44 billion  “in order to guarantee the financial support of your government and thus, ensure that the completion of the project is not compromised by possible political uncertainties.”

Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal minister of public services and procurement and MP for Québec, had replied earlier to a similar request from Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, saying the way the funding arrangement works is for Ottawa to reimburse costs as the project proceeds.

On a previous occasion, Duclos has said the money for the tramway project has been put into an account.

Julien also calls on the federal government to meet departing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to pay 40 per cent of the tramway cost, the same share as the Quebec government. “In order to honour your prime minister’s commitment, I am requesting written confirmation from you that the federal shortfall will be covered by another source of funding.”

In the midst of this political dispute, work on the tramway continues under the project manager, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec infrastructure division.

CDPQ Infra spokesperson Claudie Côté-Chabot said in an email to the QCT, “Since the signing of the framework agreements last December, CDPQ Infra has been fully active in planning the construction of TramCité.”

She said an information session “with firms interested in participating in the project will take place in mid-February. We are also moving forward with the launch of various calls for tenders.”

The agreement between the Quebec government, CDPQ Infra and the Ville de Québec provides compensation for the city in the event the tramway project is cancelled.

The current cost estimate for the first phase of the tramway project is $7.6 billion. 

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La Pocatière mayor “clarifies” tramway stance for Poilievre

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , ,

La Pocatière mayor ‘clarifies’ stance on tramway for Poilievre 

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

The mayor of La Pocatière is “clarifying” his town’s stance on Quebec City’s tramway project in the wake of comments made by federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre.

During a visit to Rivière-du-Loup on Jan, 22, Poilievre had applauded a resolution adopted a week earlier by the MRC of Kamouraska, which includes La Pocatière, in support of the so-called third link project championed by the Coalition Avenir Québec government.

Poilievre, in the view of La Pocatière town council, had apparently misinterpreted the resolution to suggest the MRC, while supporting the “third link,” opposed Quebec City’s tramway plan.

In a statement sent to the QCT, Mayor Vincent Bérubé said, “We stand in solidarity with our interregional counterparts, but our openness to the third

link is not a rejection of the Quebec [City] tramway project, which would ultimately limit road congestion and reduce the impact on the environment.”

In fact, the mayor noted, La Pocatière would benefit substantially from the tramway project, with the Alstom plant – formerly a Bombardier factory – a major employer in the town of 4,000.

Although the contract with Alstom to build the cars for the tramway, valued at about $569 million, has not been reconfirmed under the most recent version of the project, it’s expected the company, whose largest shareholder is Quebec’s pension fund, the Caisse de dépôt et placement, will get the work. 

Bérubé said it “is obvious that this project has a special resonance given the presence of the Alstom plant in La Pocatière. The economic spinoffs are also felt in the territory of the MRCs of Kamouraska and L’Islet, since many workers live in these regions and several companies that subcontract with Alstom have a presence in the region.”

In his statement, the mayor invited the local Conservative MP, Bernard Généreux (Montmagny–L’Islet–Kamouraska–Rivière-du-Loup), “to facilitate a meeting with Mr. Poilievre, in order to present our regional economic ecosystem and to take the pulse, on the ground, of the importance of companies involved in the rail transportation industry.”

La Pocatière is some 120 kilometres east of Quebec City on the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River.

                     

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TRAM TRACKER: TramCité deal signed; federal funding in election limbo

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , ,

TRAM TRACKER: TramCité deal signed; federal funding in election limbo 

Peter Black, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Though a deal is now signed to proceed with Phase 1 of a tramway plan for Quebec City, a dark cloud hangs over the project with a federal election inevitable in 2025.

On Dec. 16, the Quebec government, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec infrastructure division (CDPQ Infra) and the city signed a se- ries of agreements “sealing the partnership for the planning of the tramway component” of the project, henceforth to be known as TramCité.

Phase 1 is the construction of a 19-kilometre east-west tramway line from Charles- bourg to the Le Gendre sector of Cap-Rouge, comprising 29 stations serving areas such as the shopping strip on Boul. Laurier, Université Laval, Parliament Hill and Saint-Roch. The line will double the frequency of transit service along the corridor.

Construction of the line is not expected to begin until 2027, with completion targeted in 2033. The cost for Phase 1 is pegged at $7.6 billion.

With the deal now signed, CDPQ Infra will “set up a team dedicated to the project and to begin the technical studies and analyses required for its implementation,” according to documentation released at the Dec. 16 news conference.

The tramway project was first announced in March 2018 under the administration of then-mayor Régis Labeaume. It was budgeted at $3.3 billion, with a contribution of $1.2 billion from the federal government. Since then, with the arrival of the Coalition Avenir Québec government the same year, the plan has been delayed and changed repeatedly.

The current version is the one CDPQ Infra presented in June after being mandated by the CAQ government to study overall urban transit needs for the capital region.

Mayor Bruno Marchand, who inherited the tramway project when his Québec Forte et Fière party came to power in 2021, declared the agreement with the two other partners to be an “irreversible milestone in the construction of the tramway, and all citizens of the greater Quebec City region benefit from it.”

Under the deal, the city will contribute some $675 million to the project, amounting to half the costs of the preparatory work. The contribution is to be financed from a cli- mate change fund already established, and from revenues derived from real estate devel- opment, much of which would be stimulated by the tramway project.

Marchand said, “We’re paying cash” for the tramway, as opposed to resorting to tax increases.

The mayor said another important element of the deal is that in the event the tramway project is cancelled, the city will be reimbursed for funds invested.

While the city’s share of the funding is about nine per cent, the Quebec government is demanding the federal government cover 40 per cent, beefing up the $1.2 billion already committed.

In a year-end interview with the QCT, Jean-Yves Duclos, federal minister of public services and procurement and MP for Québec, said additional funding is available from an annual $3-billion fund the Liberal government has created for such urban transit projects.

The fate of any federal funding for the tramway whatsoever, however, looms over the project, with Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre stating unequivocally that he will not commit “one cent” to the project should he become prime minister.

Poilievre’s Quebec lieutenant, Pierre Paul-Hus, has said in recent media comments a Conservative government would put money the Liberals committed to the tramway into the CAQ government’s promised “third link,” presumably a new bridge over the St. Lawrence River.

Under current election timing, neither the tramway nor the third link would be under construction until after the planned Quebec provincial election in October 2026.

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