While the CAQ government’s budget will be presented in two weeks, 50 mayors are uniting their voices to put pressure on Quebec so that public transportation becomes a “national priority”.
In a press release from the Union of Municipalities (UMQ), they indicate that, although municipalities want to develop their transportation services, some cannot even have their own fleet of buses. This is particularly the case for Granby and Gaspé. The signatories also claim that modernization projects cannot see the light of day due to lack of money.
But although the needs are dire, the UMQ does not come forward to quantify exactly the amount it wants to see in Quebec’s 2024 budget.
“To have no loss of service over the next few years just for transportation companies, we are talking about $622 million. However, it must be understood that this does not include all the demands that could exist for all the cities and corners of the country that specifically require new public transportation. We will not begin to give a figure, but we are clearly talking about more than 1 billion dollars with all the demands that exist in terms of public transport,” explained the first vice-president of the UMQ, Guillaume Tremblay. .
Asked if this outing was a warning sent to the Coalition Avenir Québec, currently being mistreated in the polls, Mr. Tremblay replied: “We are 50 mayors who are glued to our population, and what we hear from our population is to have an improvement in public transport. Now the ball is in the government’s court. »
“Keystone”
In the press release, it is affirmed that public transport is one of the “keystones” for a more sustainable and accessible future, but that it “requires a major investment which must materialize quickly”.
“Public transportation is a key element in the success of economic development projects, and above all, an essential lever for achieving our ambitious objectives in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sustainable land use planning,” can -we read.
Among the signatories, we find Valérie Plante, Bruno Marchand, Catherine Fournier and Stéphane Boyer, respectively mayors of Montreal, Quebec, Longueuil and Laval.
Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard will table his budget on March 12. The government has already indicated that the deficit will be larger than expected, but that no tax increase was in the cards.