Increase in registration tax | This debate should have taken place “ten years ago”, says Valérie Plante

Discussions concerning the potential increase in the tax on registration “should have taken place ten years ago” to avoid inflating the monster public transport deficit, insisted Tuesday the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante.

“This is a debate that should have taken place ten years ago. The crisis and debt in public transport are not new. The problem is that every year, there is a saving made on these debates, on these questions and on the sources of income,” Ms.^me Plante, in the press scrum.

Earlier, Monday, The Press had reported that the mayors of Greater Montreal recently threatened Quebec to impose up to $228 in tax per car throughout the metropolitan territory starting next year to bail out public transportation. This scenario represents a 280% increase in the current tax.

Cities are also not excluding 6% fare increases for public transport users, as well as cuts of 65 million in reduced service, or even a “potential postponement” of the commissioning of new segments of the Express Network. metropolitan (REM), planned for the end of 2024.

Valérie Plante affirms that the current context arises once again because “unfortunately, we had different ministers who passed, reports which were made, but all that was shelved”.

“We must stop thinking about developing and financing the maintenance deficit at the last minute. That’s enough,” M persisted.^me Plant. “It’s not whether you’re for or against that that counts. This is a conversation we all need to have together. […] Every year, we push the financing problem forward. »

The mayor also said she was “very happy to hear” the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, “tell us that she wants to meet us”. “Until recently, we had no news, we did not know if we were going to repeat Groundhog Day, finding ourselves at five minutes to midnight before the adoption of our budgets without having an idea of ​​the government’s contribution “, said the municipal elected official.

In Quebec, the office of M^me Guilbault, for his part, reiterated on Tuesday that he wanted to convene a meeting with transport companies and cities by the end of the parliamentary session, in other words by the end of June. This meeting will above all be an opportunity to determine the amount granted in the short term, in 2025.

In a press release, the Alliance for the financing of collective transport in Quebec (TRANSIT) recalled Tuesday that the surplus of 1.7 billion which is available in the Green Fund could serve as a salvation in terms of financing. “It is inconceivable that surpluses lie dormant in the Green Fund while service reductions take place. Sustainable mobility is at the heart of any good climate policy,” said Équiterre analyst Anne-Catherine Pilon.

In April, however, the government indicated that it did not wish to touch this amount, specifying that it rather wanted to increase it with investment income.