We learned today, from the CEO of the CDPQ, that the Legault government will reimburse nearly $100 million to its state-owned company to cover the cost of studying the Eastern REM. I dream ? This project was, from the start, grotesque. The “improvements”, imagined in the recent polished video suggesting that Montrealers would find themselves in a kind of Disneyland, did not change anything, on the contrary. The idea of passing raised and concreted superstructures right in the middle of the city center and inhabited neighborhoods was absurd. It would have been easier to disguise an elephant to better integrate it into a concert hall. But even more, the project, set up without any consultation with the main stakeholders, including the City of Montreal and the Société de transport de Montréal, ignored any integration with existing services, including the metro. The height of the CDPQ’s arrogance, taxpayers will now have to pay $100 million? I invite our Prime Minister, an accountant by profession, to assess the opportunity cost caused by the defunct project, including the loss of time that will result in additional costs for the new project, to subtract the value of the studies that can be recycled, and to deduct this net sum from the payroll of the CDPQ officers involved in this project, even if it means amortizing it over several years. Financial accountability should not be used only to pay out generous bonuses for good investments. There is a price to pay for having failed, arrogantly helping, the planning of such a project.
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