The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, took advantage of his visit to Quebec to castigate Justin Trudeau and the “wokist” Bloc Québécois for the abandonment of the third highway link, accusing one and the other of carrying out a ” war on the car” which “killed” the tunnel promised then abandoned by the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ).
Presenting himself as a disciple of “common sense”, the Leader of the Federal Opposition promised that Ottawa would resume “supporting infrastructure that supports [sic] cars” under a conservative government.
” What is [le chef du Bloc québécois, Yves-François] Blanchet and Trudeau think people should do in the suburbs? Are people just going to take bikes everywhere? It doesn’t make sense,” said Pierre Poilievre.
The Conservative leader was careful not to upset Prime Minister François Legault a few hours before his first meeting with him.
For Pierre Poilievre, the about-face in the matter of the third link does not discredit the CAQ leader: he rather attributes the rout of the highway tunnel to the lack of enthusiasm shown by Ottawa. “It was Justin Trudeau who killed him. It was Justin Trudeau who said the funds would not be available. It was impossible for the Government of Quebec to build it without federal assistance,” he accused.
Prime Minister François Legault contradicted the reading made by the leader of the federal opposition. “Not at all,” he said during a press scrum before his meeting with Pierre Poilievre. Through the voice of the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, the CAQ rather explained the abandonment of the third link by a traffic between the two shores which no longer justified the construction of a tunnel reserved for vehicles. The government still favors a tunnel between Quebec and Lévis, but now entirely dedicated to public transit.
Quick tour in Quebec
The Conservative leader visited the Quebec Premier with the intention of finding affinities rather than points of disagreement with him.
Refusing to blame the CAQ for reneging on a promise it made during two elections, Pierre Poilievre instead affirmed that François Legault “is capable of making his own decisions”, while congratulating him “for cutting taxes — a fiscal respite that echoes the Conservative promise to reduce the federal tax burden so Quebecers can bring home a “bigger paycheque.”
Pierre Poilievre was on a one-day visit to Quebec. He first made a jump to the Vachon factory in Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, the former stronghold of Maxime Bernier, when he sat on the Conservative benches in the Commons. François Legault then received him in the afternoon with the intention of talking about lithium and Quebec’s powers in terms of immigration.
The federal politician was to end his tour with the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, during a partisan rally in the evening.
Released on May 7, the most recent Léger poll on Quebecers’ federal voting intentions gives 15% of the vote to the Conservative Party of Canada. The Liberal Party is in the lead with 38% of voting intentions, closely followed by the Bloc Québécois at 31%. The NDP is in fourth place, with 9% of the vote.