A new era of economic collaboration is dawning between Quebec and Lévis, according to the region’s political heavyweights. The era when the two cities worked “back to the river” is coming to an end: now, the St. Lawrence, once the “barrier” between the two shores, will become a “unifying link” for the region.
A “metropolitan economic development zone” must enshrine this new harmony between Quebec and Lévis. Thursday, the ministers responsible for the Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches accompanied the mayors of each of the two cities to announce the creation of this entity with still nebulous objectives.
The main idea of this area is to put an end to the parochialism sometimes evident between the two cities. It was well known that the former mayor of Quebec Régis Labeaume could no longer support his counterpart opposite during the last years of his reign, to the point where Gilles Lehouillier’s visit to the city hall of the national capital a few weeks after the election of Bruno Marchand had constituted news in the local press.
A first meeting, scheduled for June, should establish the milestones of a roadmap to guide the economic development of the greater region. The zone will benefit from common financing: the secretariat of the Capitale-Nationale will fill half of its envelope, each city will fill it by contributing a quarter each. The size of the budget, however, remains to be determined.
The labor shortage, particularly severe in the region and aggravated by the small number of immigrants who choose to plant their roots there, will be among the priorities of the zone to be born. The mayor of Lévis also mentioned the importance of thinking about a different use of the territory in order to better govern the evolution of the urban perimeter.
For example, Mayor Bruno Marchand added that collaboration between Quebec and Lévis could now go as far as consultation to determine where a new business should take root. “We must have the ability to go beyond our specific interest,” said the mayor of the capital.
These remarks echo the vision he expressed during an editorial interview with the Duty, in April 2022, during which he stressed the importance of municipal collaboration in the face of the climate emergency. “Nature does not care about our territorial limits, said the elected representative of Quebec at the time. Everyone can tell themselves that their responsibilities stop at the end of their territory, but faced with the challenges we are experiencing, we are in no position to stop there in our consultation work. »
Thursday, the mayor articulated a similar thought, evoking issues that “exceed the capacities of Quebec [et] of Levis. We must make sure, he said, to go “beyond what is natural, that is to say to work each for himself”, to collaborate as allies, and not as enemies, for the good audience.
“We are making a commitment, in front of the population, to seek out what brings us together and to work around our common interests,” promised Bernard Drainville. We are going to develop the “regional reflex”. »
Between harmony and discord
This good understanding, assured in chorus the four elected officials, will resist the disagreements which will inevitably arise on the way. “The objective is to create links between the two shores,” indicated the mayor of Lévis.
He did not specify, however, whether he had the third explicitly in mind.
The tunnel that must unite Lévis and Quebec could cause discord between the two mayors. Gilles Lehouillier supports it unreservedly; his counterpart in Quebec City finds it hard to hide the lack of enthusiasm the project inspires in him. The burden of proof rests with the government, repeats Bruno Marchand since his election: it is up to the Coalition avenir Québec to prove that the planned tunnel has all the virtues that it attributes to it.
Bernard Drainville, on Thursday, made the third link an “essential” condition for the region to take off to the rank of “economic metropolis” of Quebec. “I hope that we get along,” said the Minister of Education. But if we don’t get along, it won’t be the end of the world. »