Mr. Premier François Legault, as you know, our Île aux Coudres economy depends on the reliability of the maritime link that connects it to the continent. As you also know, the entire Charlevoix region and its neighbour, the Côte-Nord, live mainly from tourism. The summer season, here as elsewhere, lasts barely four months. However, once again, we are hostages to the conflict between the government and the employees of the Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ), who are pushing to negotiate and renew their collective agreement.
After two years of pandemic, after a decade of repeated mechanical problems with the aging ferry fleet (all challenges that have greatly harmed the economy, jobs and reputation of our tourist destination), we have just experienced our worst Saint-Jean-Baptiste in more than 20 years because of the ferry officers’ strike on June 21 and 22.
And now, to add to our ordeal—and to the dismay of customers, who are increasingly canceling their reservations and deserting our region—a strike notice has been filed by the officers and sailors of the L’Isle-aux-Coudres ferries for a full week during the construction holidays. The negative publicity that this dispute is generating is causing palpable concern for L’Isle-aux-Coudres, its residents, its workers, its tourists, its customers and its suppliers. This situation is catastrophic for a population that not only depends on tourism, but also needs a reliable link with the mainland to ensure its safety and that of its visitors.
Mr. Prime Minister, you were a businessman in the field of transport. You managed a company. You knew very well that the economy of the islands that your company connected and continues to connect depended on its reliability. You were a private sector entrepreneur whose priority was the satisfaction of tourists (your customers) and, at the same time, a concern for the dynamism of the hotel and tourism players on these islands whose air link that you managed guaranteed the development – as well as the profitability of your company.
So why, Mr. Prime Minister, is your government allowing negotiations between the STQ and the workers of the only link between our island and the continent to deteriorate? Why, when the collective agreement for STQ officers expired on March 31, 2023, is its general management not negotiating in good faith to avoid such repeated economic and social disasters?
The answer to these questions is simple, Mr. Prime Minister: to our knowledge, the Treasury Board has not given any mandate, any leeway, or any budget to the Société des traversiers du Québec. However, just as the vice-president of finance reports to the CEO in a transportation company, the president of the Treasury Board reports to the Prime Minister. Does the businessman in you remember to what extent the quality of a carrier’s labour relations is a key element in customer confidence, an element that is taken into consideration when choosing their vacation destination?
Mr. Prime Minister, without your support, without your agreement, this labor relations file will not move forward. Your support for the economy of our regions is as fundamental as that of an air carrier for the remote islands of the Antilles that it connects.
We expect that the businessman that you were will appreciate the extent to which the reliability of the link between L’Isle-aux-Coudres and the continent is a fundamental issue for us. That he will appreciate the extent to which the STQ’s services are strategic elements (and without any real alternative) of the dynamism of our economy, the survival of our businesses, the job creation that results from it and, ultimately, the development of our communities.
Pending a real and rapid solution to this labour dispute, please accept, Mr Prime Minister, the expression of our highest consideration.