After pledging to raise the speed limit on the roads to 120 kilometers per hour, Conservative leader Éric Duhaime is now proposing to raise it for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and snowmobiles.
“We want people to be more free. And if it doesn’t affect safety, we want to lighten the regulations and then the hassle for users, whether it’s motorcycles, whether it’s ATVs, whether it’s snowmobiles, ”argued Mr. Duhaime during an announcement. in La Tuque.
The PCQ suggests that the speed limit for snowmobiles be increased from 70 km/h to 90 km/h and that of ATVs from 50 km/h to 70 km/h. History to illustrate its point well, the party had even adapted its slogan “Libres chez nous” on a poster where we could read “Free on our mountain bikes”.
However, contrary to what he had promised for speed on the roads, Éric Duhaime proposes that the subject be first debated within the framework of a parliamentary commission before deregulating.
The party is also proposing to allow ATV enthusiasts to cross highways at certain locations by amending the Off-Road Vehicle Act.
Asked about the risk that such an increase will cause more accidents, the politician replied that “by trusting people more, in their judgment, it is safer. »
“With us, it’s ski doo! »
“With us, it’s ski doo! shouted enthusiastically at the end of the press briefing, a man among the twenty or so Conservative supporters who had moved. The announcement took place in a large park located in La Tuque where mountain bikes coexist with bicycles and scooters.
A few meters from the place of the announcement, a group of retirees were enjoying the good weather around a fire site. For them, an increase in speed limits is far from being the idea of the century. For mountain bikes as for cars.
“Tell it that it’s already fast enough,” insisted Pierre Ferron, 85. “They pick one up every day! It’s the undertaker who makes money. First of all, when you have to go outside, whether it takes you two hours or two and a half hours, what does it matter? It’s less time at the store to spend. »
Within the group, many seemed to want to give François Legault another chance on voting day. “No matter how much we criticize, he saved our lives,” said one lady. “He’s very human.”
The Conservative Party is however presenting one of its star candidates in the riding of Laviolette-Saint-Maurice. Pierre-David Tremblay was mayor of La Tuque from 2018 to 2021, a period during which he was very active, particularly for the realization of the LNG project.