Mobilité Infra Québec | Cities fear having to pay the bill

(Quebec) Cities fear that Quebec will design all future major public transit projects and then pass the bill on to them. They want the province to participate more, and in return propose to seek private money by developing the transit companies’ land.

“The financial commitment of the Quebec government regarding new complex public transportation projects must go beyond the planning and implementation of these projects. The operation of the new infrastructures will generate significant costs for decades following their completion,” notes the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ), in a brief it is submitting this Tuesday to the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault.

The UMQ is asking Minister Guilbault to make a “clear and unequivocal commitment given her leading role in financing the operations of new complex projects planned and carried out by Mobilité Infra Québec” (MIQ).

The issue of financing public transit is a pressing one: throughout the spring, cities and the minister negotiated, publicly and privately, on the fair share that should be paid by the Quebec government for the operating deficits of transit companies.

And the study of the bill on the creation of Mobilité Infra Québec, which begins this week and will continue throughout the fall, will not escape it.

Finding income

For the cities, Quebec must do more. They are asking it to increase provincial taxes on registration and fuel, which contribute to funding public transit, which have not been indexed since 1991. They cite the Transit Alliance, which calculated that this non-indexation has deprived the government of $694 million per year to fund public transit.

Cities also have a solution to compensate for the drying up of gas tax revenues with the electrification of the vehicle fleet: “the Electrification and Climate Change Fund could be a source of funding to consider in a context where the increase in the supply of public transportation will allow a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” notes the UMQ.

The UMQ is also asking Quebec for the power to allow transport companies to join forces with developers to “enhance” assets.

Quebec would be in favour of this measure, which would make it possible to seek private financing.

What role for cities?

In May, Minister Geneviève Guilbault tabled her legislative text creating Mobilité Infra Québec, an agency whose mandate will include analyzing, planning and carrying out “complex transportation projects,” not just public transit. Her observation: the MTQ does not have the expertise to deliver major transportation projects, which are stalling, and we must rely on external expertise.

But the agency will not be responsible for operating public transportation systems, and Quebec even reserves the right to force cities to pay a contribution to the construction of a project.

The UMQ believes that cities, which have jurisdiction over land use planning, have their say, and believes that the province cannot impose a bill on them. It is asking Quebec to “withdraw the provisions of the bill that have the effect of making a municipal contribution to the financial structure of a complex transportation project mandatory and that allow the Quebec government to impose it.”

Centralization

Professor in the Department of Civil, Geological and Mining Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal and holder of the Mobility Chair, Catherine Morency will testify before the parliamentary committee.

She fears an exercise in “centralization”, or projects selected, studied, and delivered by Quebec, without the mayors having their say.

“I wouldn’t want to be a mayor of a big city,” she continued. “There are no elected officials in this agency. So where is a disgruntled citizen going to complain? To the City. But they won’t have a say.”

At Vivre en ville, general manager Christian Savard also has several questions. What will happen, for example, to the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain, which must also do public transportation planning?

He also believes that the issue of financing will have to be addressed by Mr.^me Guilbault: A robust public transit system has predictable, autonomous revenues, such as real estate, a car or payroll tax, and long-term development, which will reduce costs.

“If we know that there are several projects coming up, companies will be less cautious. But we seem to want to keep planning vague to give ourselves some room to maneuver. But it is this behavior that increases prices, entrepreneurs say to themselves: “I don’t have a job for 15 years, but for three years.” They are banking on short-term expertise,” comments Mr. Savard.

On this issue, the construction company Pomerleau is also invited to the parliamentary committee, as is the Association of Road and Major Works Builders of Quebec.