The possibility of a drop in service in the metro and buses of Greater Montreal is still in the air. Quebec ended negotiations on public transport financing with municipal elected officials on Monday, reiterating that its most recent offer is final, to the great dismay of the metropolis’s cities.
“We will finance 70% of the deficit of transport companies in 2024. This offer is final. This is 265 million that we are granting,” insisted the office of the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, in a statement issued in the middle of the afternoon, this Monday.
Behind the scenes, it is indicated even more clearly that there will be no more negotiations at this stage, at least for 2024. The total aid for next year will therefore indeed be 265 million, of which 238 million for Greater Montreal, a figure which absorbs 70% of the deficit according to the calculation made by the government.
The latter should also include this “final” aid in the economic update to be carried out on Tuesday by the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard.
All this occurs while a little earlier, Monday at the start of the day, the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM) had officially sent a letter to Prime Minister François Legault, deploring that revenues from the registration tax “should not be used by the [ministère des Transports] in calculating the deficit.
The deficit revised downwards
In their letter, the 82 elected officials of the CMM also confirm having revised their anticipated deficit downwards, now putting it at 461 million. They therefore ask Prime Minister Legault to “pay financial aid of 346 million corresponding to 75% of this revised residual deficit”, which requires an improvement “of 128 million from the final offer submitted by the minister”, they say .
It must be said that since the start of this conflict, the government and the cities of Greater Montreal have not agreed on the calculation of the deficit.
The municipalities have so far estimated it at 532 million, while Quebec has been talking for a few days about 338 million, a gap that it explains by an “update” of the ARTM budgetary framework, optimization measures and related revenues. to the registration tax.
The latter, estimated at 122 million on an annual basis, “must be devoted to the development of public transport”, persist the elected officials, who reiterate the urgency of proceeding given the imminent adoption of their budgets, scheduled for mid-November.
A service offering that is still uncertain
“Without sufficient financial assistance, [sociétés de transport] will be forced to significantly reduce the service offering,” also write the cities, which have already stressed that aid below 300 million could, among other things, cause the metro to close after 11 p.m., on the island of Montreal.
In short, it is still unclear whether these cuts will now actually be implemented and if so, how, but they are certainly still in the air. Reductions in bus routes and layoffs of drivers were also mentioned in Greater Montreal.
At the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), we are still cautious on this subject. “We have not yet received confirmation of these elements. It is too early to determine concrete scenarios. That said, affecting the level of service is certainly the last thing that the ARTM and the public transport operators (OPTC) want to do,” indicates its spokesperson, Simon Charbonneau.
If the question seems settled for 2024 on the government side, a five-year financing plan must still be put together. In the longer term, M’s officeme Guilbault also says he is willing to “optimize investments to offer Quebecers better public transportation services.”
“For the years 2025 to 2028, we are highly willing to contribute to the working committee that Mr.me Guilbault will put in place to improve the efficiency of our transport companies”, repeat the municipal elected officials in their missive.