Despite the accumulation of extraordinary weather events this summer, Quebec will only respond to a fifth of cities’ demands for adaptation to climate change.
The economic update tabled Tuesday by the big financier Eric Girard may well provide an additional $292 million for adaptation, but the total investments budgeted on this subject still amount to less than two billion dollars (1.8 billion) over five years. The Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ) is asking for two billion… every year.
In a study released in April, the firm WSP and the Ouranos organization estimated the adaptation needs of cities at 20 billion over ten years. “If we do not find the means to adapt, the impacts will be significant, but the costs will be astronomical,” insisted the president – then vice-president – of the UMQ, Martin Damphousse.
In his update, Minister Girard plans to add amounts to “increase the capacity of communities to adapt to climate challenges” and “mitigate the risks associated with forest fires”. They are added to the grant of 1.5 billion over five years from which the “green plan” of his colleague Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, already benefited, for adaptation.
A week after the signing of a new fiscal pact, cities have every reason to rejoice with these new funds, argued Mr. Girard. “Since the municipalities have accepted what is now called the reciprocity agreement – the fiscal pact – I conclude that they must be satisfied with the effort being made to adapt to climate change,” he said. -he says.
Asked about the significant gap between his offer and the UMQ’s demand, he recalled that the state coffers were not inexhaustible. “All demands exceed resources several times over. I understand that, via a scientific reference document which supports the requests, we have been asked for two billion per year. Our answer: 1.8 billion over five years,” he said.
On Tuesday, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante welcomed the addition of adaptation funds, but quickly stressed to the government that its investments were insufficient. “The will is there, but we will have to do more,” she said. “It was two billion per year that we wanted. We are falling short. »
In a press release, the UMQ was delighted that several of the municipal priorities were “heard”. However, she denounced the sums as being too low to cover the deficit of public transport companies. The offer made by Quebec last week is written in black and white in the update, at $265 million for the next year.
“The structural deficit that we are experiencing at the moment was predictable and is not unique to Quebec. The public transport financing model has reached its limit and the time has come to find solutions together,” declared the UMQ.
With Jeanne Corriveau