(Ottawa) The Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, is categorical: the Trudeau government is keen to build a complete rail bypass in Lac-Mégantic to divert trains from the city center of this municipality devastated by a terrible accident which cost the life to 47 people in July 2013.
Posted at 6:45 p.m.
In an interview with The PressTuesday, Minister Alghabra reassured the mayor of Lac-Mégantic, Julie Morin, about Ottawa’s intentions.
Mme Morin came out Monday saying he feared that federal authorities were ready to accept a half-bypass following pressure from the Union des producteurs agricole de l’Estrie. She has sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the subject, urging him to keep his word of five years ago, when he promised the construction of a complete bypass to the residents of Megantic lake.
PHOTO DARRYL DYCK, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport of Canada
“I will be very clear. Our government remains 100% committed to building the Lac-Mégantic bypass. We are approaching the 10e anniversary of this tragedy. I still remember the shock this caused to the country and the solidarity that everyone showed towards the families and the community. We made a commitment to build this bypass. Our government remains 1000% committed to doing so,” said Minister Alghabra.
He said he understood the feeling of “anxiety” that currently inhabits the mayor of Lac-Mégantic, stressing in passing that this project is “delicate” because of its complexity and the number of stakeholders who have a voice in the matter.
“There have been delays due to ongoing negotiations with the farmers and landowners that are required. Many environmental and geotechnical studies had to be carried out. We must discuss this with the mayors of the surrounding municipalities of Nantes and Frontenac. And there are ongoing talks with the Government of Quebec. Engineering studies are also necessary. This had the effect of delaying the project. But that doesn’t mean we’re wavering,” the minister said.
Mr. Alghabra made a point of saying again that the project includes a full bypass. “The idea of building a bypass is to avoid downtown Lac-Mégantic. »
Project invoice
As for the bill for this entire project, the minister was cautious, refusing to confirm the cost advanced by the mayors of Nantes and Frontenac, which could be close to a billion dollars.
“I’m going to be careful and there are several reasons that force me to be. There are still ongoing negotiations with owners and farmers to acquire the plots of land that are needed. There are studies that are still in progress. There are ongoing negotiations with the municipalities of Frontenac and Nantes. And talks are continuing with Quebec. Add to all this the rising cost of labor and materials. All of this is going to have an impact on the total cost,” he said.
He promised that his ministry will show budgetary rigor in this project, but that there is no question of backtracking. Mr. Alghabra was also cautious about the timetable, but he promised that he would have good news to announce to the residents of Lac-Mégantic shortly.
In an interview, the Minister recalled that he keeps on his desk the railroad nail that a resident of Lac-Mégantic had given to his predecessor, Marc Garneau.
“This nail is still on my desk and continues to be a reminder of the responsibilities I have towards the people of Lac-Mégantic,” he concluded.
Motion by MP Luc Berthold
Minister Alghabra made these remarks less than an hour before the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion sponsored by the Conservative MP for Mégantic-L’Érable, Luc Berthold, which reiterates the Commons’ support for the construction of this bypass and urges the Trudeau government to carry out the project “as a whole as soon as possible”.
In recent days, the possibility of building a half-bypass has been raised by some, including the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) of Estrie.
Concretely, this proposal would consist of using the route selected for the section from Nantes to the Lac-Mégantic industrial zone, then leaving this zone by joining the current railway line which passes north of the Mégantic sports center and crosses the river Boiler on the existing bridge, the daily reported on Saturday The gallery. It would also avoid the construction of 5 km of railways in agricultural and forest lands in the Frontenac region.
But the mayor of Lac-Mégantic said she found this idea “unacceptable”.