Municipal elected officials who were hoping for good news and especially dollars from Quebec for adaptation to climate change remained on their appetite, Thursday, at the foundations of the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ), in Gatineau.
After a strong speech and pressing demands from the new president of the UMQ, the mayor of Varennes, Martin Damphousse, Prime Minister François Legault came to repeat what he has been saying for days: his government does not have the room to maneuver required to accede to these requests.
At most, the Prime Minister won the applause of about a thousand elected municipal officials who came to hear him in the concert hall of the Casino du Lac-Leamy when he promised a new law on expropriation. , demanded for a long time by the municipal world.
Previously, Martin Damphousse had not minced his words, saying that the municipalities had been “particularly disappointed with the last budget”, when they expected some form of compensation for the sharp increases in their costs attributable to inflation. .
“It’s pressing! »
Invoking the multiplication of natural disasters, he revived the request issued by the UMQ last September for 2 billion dollars over five years for adaptation to climate change, arguing that each dollar invested now to protect oneself leads to savings of $15 long term. “We need additional sums, it’s urgent! he launched to loud applause.
The list of complaints from the president of the UMQ grew longer: he reproached the government for its disengagement with regard to homelessness and the heavy burden imposed on municipalities for the operation of public transit systems.
In the area of housing, he denounced the complexity of government programs, which he described as inapplicable in the current inflationary context, when some 75,000 new dwellings needed to be built urgently a year.
François Legault then listed the measures already put in place by his government, calculating all the amounts devoted to the Plan for a green economy. He added those dedicated to housing.
No room for maneuver
“The room for maneuver does not exist more in Quebec than in the municipalities”, he reaffirmed after his speech, during a session of questions and answers with the host Marie-Claude Lavallée.
The Prime Minister went back on a speech that he constantly makes, that the way to increase revenues, which goes just as much for the municipalities, is to create wealth.
However, he made it clear that he did not want to anticipate future announcements from his ministers. The person in charge of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, was to address the assizes later Thursday, while her colleague responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, is expected on Friday.
Mr. Legault has also been promising for a few days an upcoming announcement by his Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, for additional sums for adaptation to climate change.