The REM de l’Est project will have gone through all the stages and all the emotions before arriving, on Monday, at a redesigned project that will do honor to Montreal and all of Quebec.
Posted at 7:34 p.m.
But in the beginning there was error. That of Philippe Couillard who, anxious to have a permanent legacy from his term as Prime Minister, gave carte blanche to the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec, which had no particular expertise in public transport.
But the Caisse quickly understood that it had all the cards in its game and that Mr. Couillard was going to agree to give it quite exorbitant powers in terms of expropriation, royalties and exemptions of all kinds. Not to mention the ownership of existing infrastructure such as the Deux-Montagnes line train and the tunnel under Mount Royal.
She also requested the exclusive management of the REM for twice 99 years, but she could also sell her REM when she wanted and to whom she wanted after five years of operation.
At the heart of it all, there was the reputation of the Caisse, our beloved “wool sock” that performed so well. And the Couillard government gave him everything with his eyes closed.
Today, the urban scar that constitutes the REM de l’Ouest is vividly visible from an airplane. You can see a concrete line of a Soviet aesthetic. And it is to be hoped that the “made in India” wagons will meet expectations.
Then came the horror. The Legault government gives CDPQ Infra, a subsidiary of the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec, the mandate to build a REM for the east of the city.
Armed with the powers obtained for the REM de l’Ouest, CDPQ Infra proposed another high-rise train that would have forever disfigured René-Lévesque Boulevard, downtown Montreal and massacred Morgan Park. Above all, it would have duplicated the metro: which was profitable for the Caisse and it alone, given its business model which brought in money for each kilometer traveled by a passenger. Which would have given us a duplication of the green metro line to cannibalize the revenues of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM).
In fact, according to one study, 94% of REM passengers came from other means of public transport, especially the metro. Some have questioned this study, but even if it was only half that number, this cannibalization of the subway was intolerable.
All the while, CDPQ Infra will behave like the worst corporate citizen. We were made to believe that the buildings in the city center could collapse if we dug a tunnel. Or that it was impossible to change the route to avoid one of the few green spaces in eastern Montreal.
In fact, the main victim of all this will be the credibility of the Caisse de dépôt, yet until then an institution adored by Quebecers. One of the main reasons for choosing the Caisse as the promoter of a public transport project was that it promised to do everything “on time and on budget”. Without having the final figures, we now know that for the West REM, this will be far from the case.
But, fortunately, after the horror came the honor. That of Prime Minister François Legault and the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, who presented, on Monday, a modified project which erases the horrors that we have known.
Not easy for Prime Minister Legault to dismiss CDPQ-Infra, since he was the one who had placed the order with them. A disavowal which will inevitably damage the reputation of the Caisse. But which is to the credit of the Prime Minister who was able to see the lack of social acceptability of the project. And reject a business model that only favored the Caisse.
Mayor Plante showed great tenacity, never giving up even when she seemed the only one to oppose the Caisse and the Quebec government. She found a way to convince the Prime Minister and get him to adopt her point of view.
With the result that the project that was presented on Monday responds much better to everyone’s needs.
The great strength of this project is that it will be integrated into the existing public transport network rather than running parallel to it. Of course, it can be improved. In particular, we should extend the route to Rivière-des-Prairies, the district to which we have, for decades, promised efficient public transport, without ever delivering. And to wonder about the construction in height which should be questioned.
But for the east end of Montreal, which has so often been forgotten, it is a major investment and, finally, a most honorable project.