Faced with “clearly insufficient” aid from the Legault government, the transport companies of Greater Montreal can no longer do otherwise: they will have to reduce service or pass on the tax increase to taxpayers, deplores Mayor Valérie Plante.
What there is to know
- The Legault government confirmed Tuesday in its budget update that it will provide 265 million in 2024 for public transportation.
- Of this total, 238 million will go to Greater Montreal.
- Mayor Valérie Plante deplores that the aid is insufficient. It will therefore be necessary to reduce the service or increase taxes, according to her.
“We find it really unfortunate. It’s either there are cuts in services, or it could have an impact on taxation,” regretted Tuesday in the press scrum Mme Plante, who is also president of the Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM) bringing together 82 municipalities in the region.
Earlier, Quebec had confirmed in its budget update that the total and final aid for public transportation next year would indeed be $265 million, including $238 million for Greater Montreal, a figure that absorbs 70 % of the deficit, according to the government’s calculation. According to the latter, the deficit is $338 million.
However, cities have always had a very different vision. Until Monday, they estimated the deficit at 532 million, before revising it to 461 million. Monday, in a letter to Prime Minister François Legault, the elected representatives of the CMM asked Quebec one last time to pay financial aid of 346 million to absorb 75% of the deficit, which meant an increase of 128 million.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Cuts are expected in public transportation in Greater Montreal. The cities had already stressed that aid below 300 million could cause the metro to close after 11 p.m. on the island of Montreal.
It is above all the income linked to the registration tax which explains the gap between the calculation of the government deficit and that of the cities. These revenues, estimated at 122 million, must be devoted to the development of public transport depending on the city, while Quebec wants to allocate them to the deficit.
Ultimately, Quebec did not move, even though the cities had already pointed out that aid below 300 million could cause the metro to close after 11 p.m. on the island of Montreal. Reductions in bus routes and layoffs of drivers were also mentioned in Greater Montreal.
” The situation is serious ”
In short, “the situation is serious” in Greater Montreal, says Mme Plant. “We are still a little in shock honestly,” she said, adding that the transport companies of Montreal, Laval and Longueuil will have to “evaluate different scenarios” to determine “what impact it could have on the service” .
In the suburbs, exo will necessarily have to do it too, in concert with the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM), said the elected official, who also hopes that the ARTM will be able to provide “different scenarios” for the future.
At the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), we are still assessing the damage. “The final offer from the Quebec government was made Thursday evening. We are still waiting for figures from the ARTM to know the STM’s share. It is therefore too early to determine concrete scenarios. […] Our budget will be presented in the coming weeks,” says its spokesperson, Amélie Régis, by email.
On Monday, the ARTM also remained cautious in its comments, indicating that it had not yet received confirmation of all the elements necessary for its analysis.
In the press scrum, Mme Plante also deplored the fact that the government is repeating the same mistakes of the past, without worrying about the consequences on ridership and the confidence of regular users in the city’s public transportation.
“The former Minister of Transport [François Bonnardel] had made a large commission, he had consulted everyone, but we never saw the color of this report. It’s Groundhog Day,” she insisted, deploring that the CMM is still being told “here’s the check, and that’s it.”
However, for the future, a five-year financing plan must still be put together, an exercise which both parties say they are prepared to tackle at the turn of next year. “We really try to stay motivated […]but we would really like this time to be the right one, for us to sit down with us as partners,” argued Mayor Plante on this subject.
In the medium term, M’s officeme Guilbault also said he was willing to “optimize investments to offer Quebecers better public transportation services,” without however committing to offering more resources to municipalities.