(Québec) The Legault government must immediately reduce public transport fares with the 500 million it obtained due to an upturn in the carbon market, demand Québec solidaire.
Posted at 11:12 a.m.
“My colleague Catherine Dorion made a proposal yesterday, which I think also costs 500 million, and that is to halve public transport fares everywhere in Quebec,” launched the co-head of Québec solidaire Manon Massé at a press briefing, Thursday.
The Press reported in the morning that Quebec expected to collect 800 million in its Electrification and Climate Change Fund – formerly called Green Fund – in 2021-2022 to finance its Plan for a Green Economy. But surprise: revenues related to the carbon market are more like 1.3 billion.
For Québec solidaire, this “beautiful gift” must be used to encourage the use of public transport and help “our fellow citizens have enormous difficulty coping with the increase in the cost of living”.
“I think it would be a smart way to use this 500 million, especially since our transport companies also need government support. So we’ll see the budget, we’ll see how the minister is going to use that money, but one thing is certain, and that is that it can’t be something he uses in two or three years , four years”, added Mme Mass.
According to our information, the Legault government will take advantage of this windfall to finance new environmental measures in its budget which will be tabled on Tuesday. However, it is impossible to know exactly the surplus accumulated in the Electrification and Climate Change Fund, which used to be called the Green Fund. In March 2020, it had accumulated surpluses of 1.7 billion. In 2021, this surplus was 1445 billion.