It is high time to take care of the East of Montreal neglected for too long, believes Quebec solidaire. The party thus considers the reconstruction of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, the realization of a new public transport project without aerial structures and the holding of a BAPE for the megaproject of Ray-Mont Logistiques to be priorities.
MPs Alexandre Leduc, in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, and Vincent Marissal, in Rosemont, as well as candidates Marie-Eve Rancourt, in Camille-Laurin, and Renée-Chantal Belinga, in Viau, presented on Friday the list of files they intended to put forward in the election campaign for the East of Montreal.
It is urgent to weigh on the accelerator in the file of the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, believes Vincent Marissal, who described the building as a “ruin”. Not only is this hospital no longer meeting the needs, but it is “dangerous”, he says. “The Liberals made us waste 15 years with “advertisers” that never produced anything. The CAQ has just made us lose four more years,” he explained, pleading for the reconstruction of a new 720-bed hospital.
According to him, it is clear that the bill for a new hospital will exceed the $2.5 billion authorized by Quebec. Moreover, the most recent evaluations made by the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) and revealed by Radio-Canada earlier this week rather speak of 4.2 billion. “It’s not a luxury,” insists Vincent Marissal, who maintains that a united government would build the hospital “within a realistic schedule and with a realistic budget. »
A BAPE for Ray-Mont Logistiques
In the controversial Ray-Mont Logistiques file, QS argues that the file should be submitted for examination by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE). “This project, it must be remembered, will create a huge heat island. We are talking about 2.5 million paved square feet, the equivalent of 30 soccer fields,” said Marie-Eve Rancourt, emphasizing the impacts that the project will have for the surrounding neighborhoods, namely an increase in rail traffic. , noise and vibrations, as well as destruction of green spaces.
In terms of transport, QS intends to unveil its plan in the coming weeks. In the meantime, he warns that the project intended to replace the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) in the East will have to be carried out without aerial structures. “Here, the CAQ project does not pass,” says Ms. Rancourt.
The candidate welcomed the proposal made on Thursday by the CEO of the Angus Development Company, Christian Yaccarini, and by the general manager of Vivre en ville, Christian Savard, for a REM from the East which would go to the downtown via Rosemont. However, Marie-Eve Rancourt has some reservations about the proposed model, since it includes several aerial portions. “But as MM. Yaccarini and Savard is a project that can evolve over time. From this perspective, we find it positive. »
The decontamination of land east of Montreal is also in the sights of QS, which criticizes the government of François Legault for having set up a program whose eligibility criteria are too complex. Only 10% of the 100 million envelope for this program has been used so far, lamented Alexandre Leduc. According to him, the program should be extended, but the criteria simplified.
Particular attention must also be paid to the development of large lots in the East and we must avoid having only large warehouses set up there, believes Mr. Leduc. It is important, according to him, to develop economic sectors that are “structuring, create good jobs and respect the environment”, he says. “We didn’t leave an oil refinery mono-industry to fall back into another energy-intensive industry that doesn’t really enrich the people of the East. »
QS also intends to emphasize the construction of social housing and the prevention of armed violence in the eastern neighborhoods where violent events have multiplied over the past year.