Where did this ambitious new mayor of Quebec go who proclaimed himself a tram captain and who, the day after his election, pleaded that we had to start considering a phase two to ensure a coherent vision of mobility in the capital?
On the morning of November 9, 2021, newly elected Mayor Bruno Marchand granted the Log his first editorial interview. He declared that the City and the government must have ambition, that it was necessary to see further and not lock itself into a financial straightjacket.
“We have to negotiate,” said the mayor. We have to sit down with the government and see the long-term plan. What is phase two? If we are never able to present phase two, there are citizens who think that there will never be one for them. »
Not wise
A year later, it is clear that the ambition of the mayor, who in January said he was ready to defend the project with “all his strength, his determination and his relentlessness”, has melted like snow in the sun.
In response to an outing from Councilor Jackie Smith, who invited him to plan now for the second phase and its financing, the mayor replied that it “wouldn’t be wise”.
On a mission to France, where there is a lot of talk about the tramway, Bruno Marchand now believes that planning a phase two “would compromise phase one”. According to him, we must not “divert the energies” of the project office working on phase one.
But how can you justify this lack of enthusiasm for the continuation of the project, when the Government of Quebec is now showing an openness and the federal government has been inviting people to plan phase two for two years?
In a first editorial interview with The newspaperJonatan Julien, Minister responsible for the region, showed a good openness towards the project and himself mentioned a phase two.
He places it, however, 10 to 15 years after the making of the first, which is much too far away. However, it is up to the City to ensure that the follow-up is part of the short-term priorities.
Then, at the end of 2020, in an interview, Minister Duclos said he was “open now to discussions for the next phases of the tramway”, which we had to start thinking about to avoid being fossilized in the first. A few weeks later, the federal government announced that it was increasing by $15 billion the envelope intended for investments in public transit in the country.
Plan phase two
Obviously, the idea is not to ask the project office, which has its hands full with phase one, to complete phase two. We are after all weeks away from a cost update which, as with most infrastructure projects, will have skyrocketed due to the economic backdrop.
But what would be “wise” for the mayor would be to start talking about phase two publicly now, to think about it and to invite citizens to think about it too.
Instead, the mayor is now talking months to years before focusing on phase two. When we see the extent of the process between the idea and the first sod of earth, as Ms. Smith mentioned yesterday, we have the right to wonder to what extent the mayor really believes in the continuation of the project.