A citizen group, advised by lawyer Guy Bertrand, is considering the legal way to block the tramway project, force the City of Quebec to carry out a new “objective” study on other modes of transport and hold a referendum.
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Armed with a legal opinion produced by Mr.e Bertrand and M.e André Binette, these opponents of the tramway project – referred to as “Quebec deserves better” – think they have a real chance of winning this battle in Superior Court with a possible request for an injunction.
In their 20-page presentation — which will be sent to Premier François Legault, Mayor Bruno Marchand and federal deputy Jean-Yves Duclos — the two constitutional lawyers rip the tramway project to pieces and endorse the many criticisms contained in the report of the BAPE (Bureau d’audiences publiques de l’environnement) in 2020.
The BAPE — which has an advisory and non-decisional role, it must be remembered — had not recommended the nearly $4 billion project and had invited the City of Quebec to redo its homework and explore other avenues. “The option of the light metro has not been properly considered” by Systra, could we read in the report made public a year and a half ago.
Photo Jean-Luc Lavallee
Dorys Chabot, Donald Charette and Me Guy Bertrand
Opponents of the tramway also want the City to evaluate the option of electric buses and to reconsider the old route of the defunct SRB on Charest. “Have we chosen the right way to solve the public transport problem? The answer is no. It was done cavalierly. It was never the question of the ballot box, ”summarizes Me Bertrand in an interview.
Abuse of power
The lawyers are firing red balls at the City of Quebec, the Ministry of the Environment and the Council of Ministers who ignored the BAPE report and authorized the project when there is “no social acceptability” , they say.
They accuse the authorities of having “abused” their power, of having lacked honesty and transparency. And they condemn a “hijacking of municipal democracy”, which paves the way, according to them, for a legal challenge.
The ex-mayor Régis Labeaume, they recall, never submitted his project to the popular vote during the 2017 electoral campaign. They also accuse the new mayor Bruno Marchand of having “abandoned”, once elected, commitments (concerning the concrete platform, the cutting of trees and the hiding of electrical wires) aimed at improving the project.
The duo of lawyers believe they can invalidate decree 655-2022 of the Council of Ministers which authorizes the project and municipal by-law RVAQ 1349 — which has not yet been adopted — which will make it possible to accelerate the implementation of the project by under section 74.4 of the City Charter, perceived as a “gag” by the anti-tramway.
Fundraiser
Opponents of the tramway deplore in particular the felling of many trees, the arrival of electric wires which will “disfigure” the City, the construction of a raised concrete platform, the expropriations, the increased congestion in the city center during and after the works, noise pollution and impacts on traders.
They rely on the discontent of the public and their donations to finance their crusade. They will collect contributions on the “Quebec deserves better” website but have no objective in mind for the moment.
“There, what we realize is that we have a cause. We know it’s one to midnight but we have no choice; we have to go. I think this project is going to be a disaster for Quebec and it is our duty as citizens to stand up to stop it,” commented Donald Charette, who is part of the founding committee of “Quebec deserves better”.
Who is part of the group?
Mr. Charette, a notorious opponent of the tramway who worked for Le Soleil and the Journal de Québec in the past, is now a columnist on Radio X.
Former Democracy Quebec leader Anne Guérette is also part of the group, as is former Quebec 21 candidate and property manager Jean-Pierre Du Sault and Dorys Chabot, a real estate agent known for her fight to preserve trees. along the route.
The co-founder of Tramway Non Merci Marc Roussin, Jean-Michel Thériault, Yves Massicotte and Roland Couture are also among the administrators of “Quebec deserves better”.
The tenure of M.e Bertrand consisted only, for the time being, of laying a “legal feasibility study on the legality of the tramway project”. In an interview, he does not hide that he would like to carry the torch to the end and “lead this cause before he dies”.
His colleague André Binette affirms that it would be “one of the most important cases in environmental law in the history of Quebec.”
Excerpts from the legal opinion
- “The collection of facts that have been brought to our attention, many of which come from the BAPE report, have enabled us to observe the multiple abuses, illegal acts and unreasonable decisions of the municipal authorities of the City of Quebec with the endorsement in certain cases of the Quebec government.
- “We are of the opinion that the plaintiffs have a serious case to make before the Superior Court. This cause, they will be able to present it with their heads held high and with confidence even if no guarantee of victory can be granted to them.
- “The City has, neither more nor less, imposed the current project on its residents, taking care in a systematic way to dismiss any request to open registers or petitions that would have led to a popular consultation.”
- “The behavior of city authorities aimed at circumventing, modifying and/or interpreting the laws in force in order to achieve their goal is not only unworthy of the functions they occupy but also constitutes a real misuse of municipal democracy.
- “The omissions in the electoral commitments of the former mayor of the City, as well as the reversal of the electoral commitments of the current mayor, in relation to the project, undoubtedly constitute major attacks on the principles and values of municipal democracy. in Quebec.”
- “In our opinion, (the) RAVQ 1349 regulation is illegal on the ground that it constitutes an abuse of rights, even an excess of jurisdiction, according to well-established case law, both by the Court of Appeal and by the Supreme Court. »