(Quebec) The mayor of Quebec welcomed the new council of ministers on Thursday and believes that he will be able to work with the new Minister of Transport on the crucial tramway and third link projects.
Posted at 5:43 p.m.
Updated at 6:07 p.m.
“I think we are capable of working together Mme Guilbault and me”, launched Bruno Marchand, present at the Red Room of the National Assembly.
The mayor did not want to expand on his relations with the former minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale, who often made ambiguous comments on the project and tramway and herself demanded that she no longer be minister responsible for Quebec.
“These are two individuals who must work in the greater interest, not think about their job, their personal interest,” said the mayor of Quebec, citing the greater issue of climate change.
Still, Bruno Marchand was not convinced to support the third link during the election campaign. This case will now be defended by Mr.me Guilbault.
We are in the same place we were. We need data, we need facts. That is what the Prime Minister said he would do. They will do the studies and we will present the data.
Bruno Marchand, Mayor of Quebec
In the tramway file, which the CAQ defended during the election campaign, the mayor says he has no reason to believe that Mr.me Guilbault will not be an ally.
“We have to find low-carbon solutions like the tramway. If a Minister of Transport is against the tramway, we have a Minister of Transport from the 80s.”
Mme Guilbault indicated that she will have discussions with the mayor of Quebec on this project of some four billion. The City of Quebec recently suggested that the bill could rise in an inflationary context, which could be an object of tension with the Quebec government, which finances the majority of the project.
“We have always been behind the Quebec tramway, it was in our 2018 platform, in our very first budget and since then we have done everything necessary for the project to move forward,” indicated Mme Guilbault Thursday.
Jonatan Julien in the Capitale-Nationale
The mayor was also delighted with the appointment of Jonatan Julien as minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale. The former right-hand man of Mayor Régis Labeaume has a fine knowledge of municipal affairs.
“He is an ally of the tramway that we needed as Minister of the Capitale-Nationale and that is what he told me he would be”, launched Mr. Marchand, who sees with a good eye Mr. Julien’s past in Quebec City.