After Prime Minister François Legault on Thursday, it was the turn of the leaders of the opposition parties to address the mayors of Quebec, gathered in Montreal as part of the conference of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ) which end on Friday.
The draw ensured that the interim leader of the Liberal Party (PLQ) was the first to speak in front of municipal elected officials and to answer questions from host Stephan Bureau.
Marc Tanguay quickly returned to the statement of the Prime Minister who, the day before, had said in the same forum “that there is no more room for maneuver in Quebec than there is in the municipalities”, in alluding to different demands from cities, particularly in terms of public transport and housing.
“Sorry, I do not accept that the Prime Minister of Quebec compares his room for maneuver with your room for maneuver, because for us, it is to be completely disconnected,” said the leader of the PLQ, imploring the government to “ working on solutions” to meet the needs of cities.
Among these solutions, Marc Tanguay promised that the PLQ, if elected, will cancel the decision of the Legault government to require municipalities since 2020 to give up buildings and land free of charge for the construction or expansion of schools.
“It makes no sense for Quebec to decide to shovel this responsibility into your backyard. […] It’s a Quebec jurisdiction,” said Marc Tanguay, to the applause of several municipal officials.
The interim leader of the PLQ also indicated that regardless of who will lead the party in the next elections, if the Liberals win, they will make sure to invest $470 million to help the villages of Quebec provide local services to their citizens. , as the Coalition Avenir Québec promised during the last electoral campaign.
PSPP would like to give more powers to the MRCs
During his speech, the leader of the Parti Québécois also took the Prime Minister at his word, who had declared a few weeks ago that it was “easier to go begging in Quebec” than to “clean up” in municipal finances.
For Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, it is rather François Legault the main “beggar”, because he often has to negotiate with Ottawa to obtain money for the municipalities, as is the case with the Income Tax Program. gasoline and the Quebec contribution (TECQ) which finances underground infrastructure work in municipalities.
“It is not a social project to go, mayors and politicians of the National Assembly, to beg again in Ottawa,” declared Paul St-Pierre Plamondon for whom there is “one government too many “.
“If we send $82 billion of our taxes every year to Ottawa, what do we get in return? But above all, what could we do with these 82 billion? »
The leader of the PQ submitted the proposal that an independent Quebec use part of “this $82 billion” to give more powers to regional county municipalities (MRC), as desired by the founder of the PQ, René Lévesque, “which created the MRCs”.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon also said he was very concerned about the rise in homelessness in the province.
“We are going to prioritize the right to housing over many other considerations. Moreover, the Parti Québécois is committed to making the right to housing a right in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” promised the leader of the PQ.
GND wants a plurality of means of transport
The co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, for his part accused the CAQ of forming a government “which treats public transportation not as its responsibility, but as an unpleasant expense.”
Addressing the mayors, he declared: “We have a government which basically tells you that if you want to provide your citizens with good public transport services, well, you just have to pay your employees and your bus driver cheaper.”
The co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire argued that we must “get away from the logic of either it’s the tank or it’s the metro, because there are a plurality of mobility options.”
He listed light transport, taxi-bus, car sharing, buses, trams, as many means that must be considered for transportation.
“The Quebec government must make it its mission to help municipalities deploy as many of these options as possible throughout the territory. »
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois also reiterated the idea of using the accumulated surplus of $1.7 billion from the Green Fund to finance public transit organizations. This proposal provoked several applause in the crowd of municipal elected officials gathered at the Palais des Congrès.
More than 1,500 elected officials, municipal managers and partners from all regions of Quebec participate in the annual UMQ meetings.