After two and a half years in power and with elections on the horizon, Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand has no intention of changing course or governing according to public opinion. Convinced that the capital is “heading for a brick wall” if it gets stuck in the status quo, he persists and signs, convinced that the changes he is sowing will bear fruit in the long run.
Since his election, Bruno Marchand has never hidden his ambition to transform a capital long given over to the automobile. Bike paths, one-way streets, pedestrianization and promotion of public transportation: mobility in Quebec is changing at high speed, even if it means upsetting habits and polarizing the population.
However, strong headwinds are blowing against the actions of his administration. A Léger-The Quebec Journal published Tuesday paints a portrait of a population that is 64% happy with the state of its city and a mayor who is struggling to reap the dividends of this relative satisfaction. After two and a half years at the helm of the capital, Bruno Marchand is divisive: he has 46% support, but is also shunned by 44% of the electorate.
“Would every politician like to be at 80%? The answer is yes,” he admits. “At the same time, we have to be consistent: we have decided to pursue a courageous policy and make decisions that are good for the city now, yes, but which will be especially good in the medium and long term.”
I’m not waging war on cars: I’m waging war on congestion.
In the opposition, many blame this polarization on the dogmatism of a mayor certain that virtue resides in his camp. The main interested party defends himself and explains that it is necessity and not any fanaticism that dictates his policy.
Quebec City expects, he gives as an example, to welcome 100,000 more trips by 2040 — a moderate forecast in light of the growth observed over the past three years, which have already seen nearly 40,000 people settle in the capital. “The numbers show that if we do nothing, it’s a disaster in terms of mobility,” emphasizes Mayor Marchand. “If we don’t make the right decisions now, congestion increases, increases, increases, and then poof!, people end up saying that it’s no longer livable in Quebec City.”
“I’m not waging war on cars: I’m waging war on congestion,” he says.
Fighting the “fear of change”
Once public opinion is so entrenched in relation to a political figure, does the latter become the main obstacle to the changes that it wishes to bring about? Bruno Marchand refuses to believe it. “I am not polarizing in any way in my attitude. I think about what has been experienced in politics here and elsewhere: I do not despise opponents, I do not call them names, I am not bitter or gruff against people who do not think like me.”
“If it had been someone else, it would have been the same,” he emphasizes. “It’s the object that’s in question.” [plutôt que la personne]. So, it’s certain that by proposing this type of object, you become caricatured, for some, as being the one “who wants to change things”. I don’t take it personally, in the sense that people – some people – are afraid of change. And that’s normal.
A fear fueled, according to him, by certain radio stations — “not to mention one,” he specifies — that accuse him of wanting to dictate to the population of Quebec how they should live their lives. “I never wanted to manage people’s lives. I just said: ‘We’re going to offer you options.’ Then, if you have three cars, you can go down to two because that’s your choice and because there are interesting public transit services.”
The disgruntled fringe is also the loudest, he maintains. “I don’t blame the media, but I know that an article about happy people doesn’t get read. The merchant who did well this summer because we pedestrianized Old Quebec and he was able to expand his terrace doesn’t go out into the street to shout: ‘I have $100,000 more in my pocket, thank you, City!’”
“Two visions” for 2025
In Quebec, the camps are already sharpening their weapons in anticipation of the next municipal election campaign. The Léger poll placed Bruno Marchand neck and neck with former Liberal minister Sam Hamad, a potential mayoral candidate who is keeping his intentions vague as best he can.
At the mention of this potential adversary, Mayor Marchand’s face splits into a broad smile. “There will be two visions of the City” that will confront each other, he says about a rival he already portrays in press briefings as a man from the past.
He doesn’t care if his opponents are counting the nights until the next municipal elections, Bruno Marchand refuses to play in a popularity contest. “We’re not going to have an election year, because that would distort the city’s ability to move forward. It would mean subjecting every decision to one’s popularity, and I don’t want to be that politician. It’s easy to ride the wave: if that were the case, I would have put an end to the tramway.”
Regarding this issue, which Bruno Marchand defended tooth and nail before the provincial government took management away from him, the mayor is today making an act of faith.
“This file, at present, remains speculative. The only guarantee we have is the public word of the Prime Minister. I believe he is sincere, I believe he wants it because he told me so to my face. He wants to go for it, he wants to put the Caisse [de dépôt et placement] in the shot, fine. What we want is the realization [du projet]not [en récolter] the credit.
Accused of intransigence by his detractors, Bruno Marchand says he questions himself every day to avoid the trap of believing in his own infallibility. One thing is clear, however: 14 months before the November 2025 election, he displays the confidence of a man convinced that between the “two visions” of Quebec that are emerging, his is the best.