Faced with the specter of an early election in Ottawa and polls announcing the arrival in power of conservative troops hostile to financing a tramway in the capital, Quebec the city and Quebec the government have feelings of urgency at opposite ends of the spectrum.
The mayor of the capital, Bruno Marchand, believes that the eventual arrival — and perhaps earlier than in the fall of 2025 — of a Conservative government in Ottawa could derail the tramway. “He was very clear that he did not want to move forward,” he said Friday morning in an impromptu press conference. “Someone who tells you that it is not a risk, with Poilievre’s positions… It is definitely a risk.”
A few minutes earlier, the minister responsible for the National Capital Region and Infrastructure, Jonatan Julien, said he did not see any.
“It certainly doesn’t keep me awake at night,” said the Charlesbourg MP about the shadow of an early election that has been hanging over Ottawa since the revocation of the agreement between the NDP and the Liberals. “Right now, there’s no issue with funding.”
His faith rests on the bilateral infrastructure agreement in principle concluded in the spring of 2023 with his former federal counterpart, Dominic Leblanc. This provides for Ottawa to set aside sums to finance approximately 40% of the tramway, regardless of its final bill.
CDPQ Infra estimates that the first phase that the CAQ government is committed to carrying out, which includes a central corridor with an antenna to Charlesbourg, will cost $5.27 billion, an amount paid, according to the latest known financial packages, 50% by the province, 40% by the federal government and 10% by the City.
However, the Conservative leader has already telegraphed his aversion to the issue. “As prime minister, I will not invest a cent of federal money in a tramway project in Quebec City,” he wrote on X on June 13.
As Prime Minister, I will not invest a cent of federal money in a tramway project in Quebec.
Trudeau and the Bloc are obsessed with the war on cars and ignore people in the suburbs and regions.
Common sense conservatives will continue to respect the…
— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) June 13, 2024
His Quebec lieutenant, Pierre-Paul Hus, had to recant himself within a few hours after stating that the Conservative troops would not tear up contracts concluded by the Liberals. “A Conservative government will NOT invest federal money in a tramway,” he had changed his mind on Elon Musk’s platform, “regardless of Justin Trudeau’s promises.”
No urgency in the government
For Mayor Bruno Marchand, it is important to get the project underway as quickly as possible. “We have to get started. Not to get ahead of Mr. Poilievre, but because the funding is there, the governments want it, and we have to move forward.”
At the same time, he indicates that without Ottawa’s support, Quebec would have difficulty paying the bill alone.
“I would have a big question mark if about 38% of the funding were to leave all at once. I don’t know how the Quebec government, which is the main donor, would react, but in their place, I would understand them saying: ‘Is this possible in a very difficult financial context for the Quebec government?’ It would certainly raise serious questions,” the mayor emphasizes. “We must not lose this funding.”
Minister Jonatan Julien, for his part, is not showing the same urgency. “In Quebec, we are not rushing things,” he said of a tramway that has been making the rounds for six years within his government. The file is moving forward, he said, and an announcement on the governance model will be made “this fall.”
The Duty asked the office of Sean Fraser, the current federal Minister of Infrastructure, to verify the solidity of the agreement mentioned by Jonatan Julien in the event of the election of the Conservative troops. The response was still awaited at the time of writing.