Special consultations on the creation of Mobilité Infra Québec resumed last week in the National Assembly. Initial concerns about this reform, which is marked by centralization, have grown in intensity. Stakeholders are discovering the hidden side of the CAQ agenda when they read Bill 61, tabled last May. Far from ensuring consistency and fairness in the implementation of projects focused on sustainable mobility, the reform has the potential to erode the autonomy of municipalities and increase their financial burden.
The creation of Mobilité Infra Québec is based on noble intentions: to reinvigorate public transit by establishing a so-called independent agency that will accomplish the feat of piloting complex projects delivered not only faster, but at a lower cost than under the current framework. Municipalities will undoubtedly be consulted before a project is launched. However, in the event of a disagreement or disagreement, the amount of the financial contribution of a municipality or any other transportation management organization could be set unilaterally by Québec.
The municipal world is on alert. The Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ) has reiterated the importance of cities being “fully involved” in decisions regarding public transit, because they are immediately affected by the impact on land use planning and economic development. Cities could end up with a large bill, with no room to maneuver to cover operating and maintenance costs, the UMQ fears. This concern is legitimate, but not to the point that the entire burden is shifted to Quebec City.
For decades, urban sprawl has transformed Quebec into a country that has been murdered in terms of urban planning. We accepted that suburbs located on the outskirts of urban areas could develop for a fraction of the cost in terms of environmental impacts, even if it meant filling in wetlands, concreting over farmland and expanding the highway network. This model shifted the costs of development onto the community while ensuring the attractiveness of the suburbs to households who were promised a reduced tax burden.
This model of fiscal inequity has fortunately begun to crack with the emergence of metropolitan communities in Montreal and Quebec City, whose governance ensures fairer cost sharing. Regardless of their size, all cities will have to contribute to the energy transition. Yes, this duty will also force them to increase the municipal taxes of their fellow citizens.
These efforts should not, however, come at the cost of increased centralization of the decision-making process in Quebec City. Whether in the case of the useless third link or the tramway in Quebec City, Minister Guilbault has demonstrated the extent to which the politicization of public transit issues poses a risk to our ability to make sustainable and lasting choices. This is not related to her personally, but rather the symptom of a disease that afflicts governments of all colors. How much more pleasant it is to decide among ourselves in the comfortable comfort of the bunker!
The opposition parties have also expressed harsh criticism of the creation of Mobilité Infra Québec. If the new structures produced convincing results, we would know it, since the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) has been promising us an era of growth and development of projects for a long time. It is caught up in its own heaviness, the crisis in the financing of public transportation, political interference and the alarming scarcity of compliant bidders for major projects.
Minister Guilbault can say whatever she wants with the eloquence and assurance that we know her for. The future agency will not be better equipped to fulfill the ambitious promises of efficiency attributed to it. Now, the solution recommended by the Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec is hardly better. It suggests an improvement in the internal expertise of the Ministry of Transport (MTQ), this concrete and asphalt monster that has never really embraced the “public transportation” dimension of its mandate.
If the creation of Mobilité Infra Québec is being considered, it is also because of this observation of failure in the capacity to reform the MTQ, let us not forget. Moreover, two predecessors of Minister Guilbault, the PQ member Sylvain Gaudreault and the Liberal Robert Poëti, had shown themselves to be in favour of the creation of an agency to “depoliticize” transportation.
The creation of Mobilité Infra Québec could be useful if its independence were guaranteed, if municipalities and existing agencies, such as the ARTM, were considered real consultation partners and if the agency were limited to public transit projects, as suggested by Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante. In the absence of these guarantees, this project will not pass.