Peter Black

May 8, 2024

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand is denouncing the provincial agency for motor vehicles as a “nuthouse” as the deadline fast approaches for his administration to decide whether to raise money for public transit through the Quebec vehicle registration fee.
Last December, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government granted all municipalities in the province the power to use car registration fees to raise money for public transit, a tool cities in the Montreal region have had since 2010.
Since 1992, a fee of $30 targeted for public transit has been tacked onto the cost of vehicle registration across the province.
At a May 1 news conference at City Hall, Marchand said he is not happy that the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) has refused to extend the May 31 deadline for municipalities to inform the agency they want to take advantage of the “registration tax.”
The tax would be imposed on new and renewed vehicle registrations as of 2025. According to media reports, some 30 municipalities in Quebec have informed the SAAQ they plan to take advantage of the revenue-generating opportunity.
The mayor said it is “inconceivable” for the SAAQ to keep insisting on the deadline with the overall city transport situation in limbo, pending the report from the Caisse de dépôt et placement infrastructure division on regional transit needs, expected in June. The CAQ government commissioned the study in reaction to the rising cost of the city’s proposed tramway project. 

Marchand decried the “the administrative formalities” behind the May 31 deadline to submit the tax request. “Does that take nine months to do? There is really someone moving numbers in an abacus and [saying] it will take nine months for us to be able to say what will be the amount that we would charge, if we charge?”
The mayor refused to speculate on what amount the city might wish to impose, saying it first needs to have the overall picture of public transit financing.
Marchand’s comments on the registration tax followed on the heels of Transition Quèbec Leader and Limoilou Coun. Jackie Smith’s decision to resign her seat on the board of the Réseau de Transport de Québec (RTC) to protest the city’s lack of action on the tax.
Smith is proposing $1,167, the value of an annual bus pass, be added to the car registration fee. “The government gave us leverage to increase funding for the RTC and we must use it to double the budget dedicated to public transport in Quebec City,” she said in a statement. “This decision would allow us to make free access universal, erase the deficit and develop our network, rather than increasing prices to barely maintain our services.”
Later, at the news conference, Marchand rejected Smith’s demand, saying it would be too heavy a burden on drivers already having a hard time making ends meet.
Smith said she made the decision to resign from the RTC board to stay true to her principles and her campaign vow to fight for free public transit. She said in a CBC Radio interview, “I have to be coherent. I have to defend the principal reason why I was elected. I felt morally I had the responsibility to resign.”
Marchand answered questions about the registration fee at a news conference convened to announce changes to the Equimobilité program aimed at low-income transit users (see article below). As of July 1, transit users eligible for Équimobilité will pay $50 for a monthly pass and $2 for a single ticket. The regular rate is $94.50 for a pass and $3.40 for a ticket.

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Transition Québec Leader and Limoilou Coun. Jackie Smith resigned from the Réseau de Transport de Québec (RTC) governing board to protest the city’s lack of action on the taxation of car registrations.

Photo from Transition Québec