The Prime Minister, François Legault, came to the defense of Geneviève Guilbault following her clumsy comments on the financing of public transport. Perhaps he should also change his job title? Just replace “Sustainable mobility” with “Execrable immobility”, and that’s it.
This title would be in line with the nonchalance displayed by Minister Guilbault in the debate on ways to reduce the structural deficit of transport companies. She made a surprising statement, affirming that the management of public transport was not part of the State’s missions.
She is partly right on a technical level, because the day-to-day management of companies is a municipal responsibility. However, it is only at the risk of intellectual shortcuts that she can assert that the State has nothing to do with this quagmire. Whether through its participation in the financing of companies, the creation of the regional metropolitan transport authority (ARTM), the granting of preferential treatment to the REM, the ideation of major projects, the government of Quebec always has a hand on the steering wheel of public transport. Or rather one foot on the brake these days.
The Prime Minister also contributed to inflaming discussions by asserting that it is easier for mayors “to beg Quebec” than to balance the budgets of transport companies. Continuing the standoff that has been going on since last fall, he is once again alienating the elected officials of the big cities.
This outpouring of frustration by the CAQ government betrays both its powerlessness and its lack of vision to review the financing of public transport, undermined by the effects of the pandemic, widespread teleworking and the competition waged by the REM in the revenue sharing in the Montreal metropolitan area. The structural deficit (bus, metro, train and paratransit) is currently estimated at 1.4 billion with no hope of recovery in sight.
Even if Quebec assumed a large part of the deficit last year, urban areas will have to make heartbreaking choices to remedy the situation: cut services, increase municipal taxes or the tax on registration, increase prices… Legault government sugar coats its message very poorly, but its request is not without foundation. Municipalities must also do their part and better manage operating costs.
However, this in no way justifies Minister Guilbault’s reductive speech. Public transportation is not a local or regional service, but a public good that must be supported collectively to promote equity in the mobility of Quebecers, to ensure responsible land use planning and to give ourselves a glimmer of hope in achieving targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is a mission of the State, as is the maintenance of the roads, these stretches of asphalt so dear to the minister.
There is an urgent need to hold a debate on the financing of transport companies, at the intersection of sustainability and fairness in cost sharing. Let’s not believe it too much. The Legault government reveals itself in its true light in this controversy. Sustainable mobility concerns him less than the 3e link.
Since his election, he has not called for any new structuring public transport project. He asks cities to use the taxing powers that come with their long-claimed autonomy, while expressing reservations when they consider putting motorists to work, through an increase in the tax on registration or tolls. kilometer. Sad to say, but it is still the paving stone of immobility that dictates the future of public transport.