“Accelerated” projects in slow motion

Schools, hospitals, CHSLDs, public transport: half of the infrastructures put on the fast track by Quebec are long overdue

Tommy Chouinard
The Press

(Quebec) A year and a half after the adoption of a law supposed to accelerate construction, half of the 181 infrastructure projects targeted by the Legault government are still at the planning stage, or even simply “at ‘study,’ new Treasury Board documents reveal. This is the case for the repair of 7 CHSLDs and the construction of 10 schools in Montreal.

Quebec wanted to put these 181 projects on the fast track thanks to the Act respecting the acceleration of certain infrastructure projects (Bill 66) by the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, adopted in December 2020. The minister lightened the rules concerning, among other things, expropriations, environmental and municipal authorizations.

This “electroshock” will make it possible to shorten the delays from a few months to three years, to “accelerate projects that are important” and to contribute to economic recovery, she said.

The file had raised controversy in the National Assembly, especially with the first version of this legislative text presented by Christian Dubé. The opposition accused the government of wanting to assume too many powers.

However, as the start of the election campaign approaches, 92 of the 181 projects (50.8%) are still “in planning” or “under study”, and two have been “withdrawn”, as of March 31. last.

This is what we see in the Accountability for Accelerated Infrastructure Projects made public by the Treasury Board without fanfare on Monday. The government must produce this document twice a year by law.

Elders’ houses

Most of the 89 projects “in progress” are health sector infrastructures. These are mainly 46 seniors’ homes – 33 of which should be delivered in the fall. It is a government election promise.

As The Press revealed on Saturday, the construction costs of these houses jumped by 19%, or 430 million. The bill has now reached 2.8 billion, confirmed the Société québécoise des infrastructures.

Seven CHSLD reconstruction projects in Montreal are still “in planning”, according to Treasury documents (David-Benjamin-Viger, Dorval, Grace Dart, Jeanne-Le Ber, Lasalle, Nicolet and Rousselot). The expansion of hospitals in Amos, La Malbaie and Arthabaska is at the same stage. Ditto for the construction of a hospital in Vaudreuil-Soulanges and the modernization of the emergency room of the Fleury hospital in Montreal.

It’s worse in the Outaouais: the construction of a hospital is still “under study”. The green light was not given. There’s a whole saga about location. In the Laurentians, the expansion of the Saint-Eustache hospital is also “under study”.

In education, 15 primary and secondary schools targeted by the government in its law are in the process of becoming a reality. But 20 are still in the planning stages, half of them in Montreal (on the site of the Grand Séminaire, on Île des Sœurs, on Pointe-de-l’Île, in Outremont, in Saint-Laurent, in Mont-Royal, in Anjou, in Saint-Léonard, in L’Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève).

In higher education, none of the five projects is under construction. The Dawson College expansion project has been cancelled. The expansion of the École de technologie supérieure, the redevelopment of the École Polytechnique and that of the campus of the Université du Québec en Outaouais are “under study”. The expansion of McGill University, with the transfer of the former Royal Victoria Hospital, is in planning.

Lagging transport projects

It is especially in the transport sector that the government has had a poor record so far. Only 11 projects are “in progress”. No fewer than 35 projects are in the planning stage and 6 are under study.

According to what the government was saying in 2020, two projects were urgent for security reasons and should not be examined by the BAPE: the “securing” of Route 117 between Labelle and Rivière-Rouge and the “improvement” of Highway 30 between Brossard and Boucherville. The first is “in progress”, but the second is still “in planning”.

Quebec has given the green light to the extension of the blue line of the metro, but the start of construction is not for soon. The project is classified in the “in planning” category.

As The Press revealed last year, the extension of the REM to Chambly and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu has been canceled – “withdrawn”, as the Treasury puts it.

Of the eight projects under the responsibility of the Société québécoise des infrastructures, four are in progress, including the repair of 1000, rue Fullum in Montreal and the redevelopment of the Saint-Hyacinthe courthouse. The renovation of the Gérald-Godin Building in Montreal is “under study”; that of the D’Youville parking lot in Quebec, “in planning”.

Among the 90 projects in planning or under study, some were already in the cards four years ago, under the Couillard government, recognizes Sonia LeBel. They have been included in the Quebec Infrastructure Plan for years.

“Planning is not something you have to skip. You have to do it correctly and take the time,” she defends herself in an interview. “Once the project is planned, that’s where Bill 66 comes in.” So far, the exceptional powers provided for in the law have been used on 61 occasions for 48 projects. But none were needed for no less than 68 projects in progress. “We use them when we need them,” says Sonia LeBel.

The President of the Treasury Board points out that the law has a duration of five years. “So it’s not over,” she insists.

Capitalized projects

CHSLDs in Montreal

Seven CHSLDs in Montreal (David-Benjamin-Viger, Dorval, Grace Dart, Jeanne-Le Ber, LaSalle, Nicolet and Rousselot) are still at the “planning” stage, according to the government. Réjean Leclerc, president of the Federation of Health and Social Services, affiliated with the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN), claims to “very seriously question the credibility of the government”, which does not respect what it has announced. “I am surprised and disappointed for the clientele and the families. But above all, I am also disappointed for the staff, he says. The key is ventilation: we need suitable infrastructures. »

Third school in L’Île-des-Sœurs

In L’Île-des-Sœurs, we have been asking to build a third school since 2017, in order to counter an overcrowding problem. Last year, a neighborhood mother, Carolina Fernandez, launched a petition to speed up the process. The Marguerite school, for example, provides for an “occupancy of 133% in the period 2022-2023”, according to the Marguerite-Bourgeoys school service center. This proportion would rise to 157% for 2024-2025, hence the need to expand supply in this territory.

Highway 117

Connecting Montreal to Abitibi, Route 117 has been recognized as “dangerous” for decades. Bill 66 was to add a lane to this road between Labelle and Rivière-Rouge, two municipalities in the Laurentians. Vicki Emard, mayor of Labelle, identifies this place as “the deadliest stretch of road in Quebec”. However, she thinks that the current project, which does not plan to change the trajectory of the road, represents a bad solution. “There is no one who is against it,” she says. Everyone wants four lanes, but it has to be in the right place, to avoid accidents. »

The site of the Major Seminary in Montreal

A public elementary school project is planned in the parking lot behind the Grand-Séminaire, in downtown Montreal. In this sector, private institutions predominate. In recent years, parents “have had to send their children to the private sector or to public schools much further away,” laments Serge Sasseville, city councilor for the Peter-McGill district. “We want to bring families back to the city center,” he says. And for that, it takes parks, schools and early childhood centers. »

Saint-Eustache Hospital

In March, the Saint-Eustache hospital celebrated its 60th anniversary. The health facility, which serves approximately 300,000 people in the Lower Laurentians, is awaiting expansion, which is slow to arrive, despite the adoption of Bill 66. “Quebec’s fourth region is suffering from a worst access to health care [dans la province] », denounced Marc L’Heureux, president of the Coalition Santé Laurentides and prefect of the MRC des Laurentides, in an open letter published in The Press May 14. Co-signed by about fifteen doctors and municipal politicians, the letter mentions that the Saint-Eustache hospital needs “investments three times higher than what is currently in the plans”.

William Theriault, The Press