The Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, tabled Bill 61 on Thursday creating Mobilité Infra Québec to land major public transport projects faster and at lower cost.
The future agency will have the mission of “opportunity analysis, planning and implementation of complex transport projects”. But only when the government entrusts him with responsibility.
Mobilité Infra Québec will therefore have no power of initiative and it will not be the one to choose which projects to prioritize. According to the wording of the bill, it will be able to “carry out transport analyses”, but “always at the request of the minister responsible for Transport and Sustainable Mobility”.
Minister Guilbault wants in particular to ensure that the government is no longer “dependent” on the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) for the completion of major projects such as the Réseau express métropolitain (REM).
Power to expropriate and have subsidiaries
The bill also grants him the power to acquire buildings by expropriation. Its leaders will also be able to offer working conditions distinct from those of the government, outside of state collective agreements.
The Legault government also gives the future agency the power to acquire “subsidiaries”.
Unlike Santé Québec, the new transport agency would not have authority over municipal transport companies. The bill, however, changes certain rules of the game between the government and cities. Indeed, it stipulates “that in the absence of an agreement with the minister, the amount of the financial contribution of a municipality or other organization to a complex transport project is set by the government”.
More “collaborative” calls for tenders
As announced, another bill on public contracts was tabled just after by Minister Jonatan Julien on Thursday. Bill 62 introduces a “new type of “partnership” contract for the construction of public infrastructure.
The government’s intention here is that companies taking part in calls for tenders can intervene earlier in the design of projects via a “collaborative approach”.
This would involve “holding bilateral workshops, pooling resources and information related to the infrastructure project as well as consensual sharing of risks and, as the case may be, savings generated or gains made and losses suffered during the duration of the contract. »
It would also allow the Treasury Board to award contracts by mutual agreement following unsuccessful calls for tenders.
Even if it is linked to the destiny of Mobilité Infra Québec, Bill 62 has a much broader scope and will apply to all public infrastructure, from schools to health facilities including bridges and houses. elders.
More details will follow.