Québec solidaire and the Parti Québécois want to know since when the CAQ has been discussing the Quebec tramway project with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), which the government gave six months to analyze all possible scenarios.
Verification carried out several times by our Parliamentary Office, almost a week after the government removed the tramway file from the hands of the mayor of Quebec, we still do not know the precise mandate which was entrusted to the CDPQ.
“If the government mandates us, under the agreement we have with it, we will be able to start from the mobility needs it has identified to carry out analyzes and recommend a structuring transport solution for the National Capital,” we replied Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau, spokesperson at CDPQ Infra, last week.
No one in the government has yet specified how long the CAQ government and the Caisse have been talking about it.
Those around the Prime Minister, however, assure that before announcing its decision after a meeting with Mayor Bruno Marchand, the government checked with the Caisse that the six-month period was sufficient to arrive at a result.
Transparency
In a comment on the social network X, PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon criticizes the government and the CDPQ for maintaining the mystery.
“This refusal to answer says a lot,” he said. During “the campaign in Jean-Talon, the PQ asked for transparency from the CAQ regarding the government’s intentions in the tramway file,” recalls the leader of the PQ.
“Had the CAQ already contacted the Caisse to get rid of the file,” he raises.
The solidarity spokesperson for Transport, Etienne Grandmont, agrees. He recalls that the CAQ nevertheless participated in the adoption of two unanimous motions in support of the City of Quebec project, on September 21 and October 24.
“Geneviève Guilbault and François Legault have been discussing the possibility of resuming the tramway with the CDPQ since when? Before October 24? The population of Quebec has the right to have clear and transparent answers. It’s a question of respect,” insists the MP for Taschereau.
Statuary meeting
The criticism from the two opposition parties comes as Prime Minister François Legault met, Wednesday morning, with the CEO of the CDPQ, Charles Emond.
“We discussed, among other things, infrastructure projects,” the CAQ leader briefly declared, publishing on X a photo taken during this statutory meeting, which generally takes place once a month.
“We discussed, among other things, public transport projects,” wrote the Prime Minister, after his previous meeting with the big boss of the Caisse, on October 10.