Ottawa reiterated on Wednesday that it was ready to disburse its share of the financing for the Quebec tramway, between $1.5 and $1.6 billion.
Asked about the availability of these funds, the federal Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Jean-Yves Duclos, indicated that they were currently sitting in the equivalent of a “checking account”. However, he added, “it takes investments to be able to use this money”. “We don’t send money to the Quebec government for nothing at all. »
Last week, Quebec Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, once again expressed doubts about the real availability of federal funds for public transport. “You can tell the journalists that you’re there, but after that, in real life, I negotiate with them, I make my requests and I wait for the check. And the check does not arrive,” she declared during a questioning in the National Assembly.
Once verified, Justin Trudeau’s government has reserved a little over a billion and a half for this purpose in its coffers. This sum corresponds to 30% of the first phase of the $5.27 billion CDPQ Infra project, to which the Legault government gave its approval in June.
In 2023, the Trudeau and Legault governments concluded a $2.7 billion funding agreement for the extension of the Montreal metro blue line and the establishment of the Quebec City tramway.
Ottawa’s first commitment to the project, of $1.2 billion, dates back to 2019. At the time, the Quebec tramway was expected to cost taxpayers $3.3 billion.
Minister Duclos also suggests that the federal government will be ready to give more in the next phases of the project. “For the other phases – and to complete phase 1, if necessary – there are 3 billion additional federal dollars which will be available every year, recurring in 2026 and for all the years that follow. »
Legault confident
Meanwhile, from Paris, where he is on an official visit, Prime Minister François Legault sought to allay concerns about the future of the project. “I am confident, but I do not yet have the results from the lawyers,” he said in a press scrum on Wednesday.
The day before, he had suggested that the contract worth more than half a billion dollars concluded with Alstom concerning the tram rolling stock could be called into question. It appears that the change in technology recommended by CDPQ Infra in terms of power supply could disturb Siemens, which had withdrawn from the competition.
Last week, Minister Guilbault refused to comment on a timetable in the tramway file. “Things continue to move forward,” she repeated, before saying that it would be “insane” to believe that she could already announce a start date for the construction.
In August, she committed to providing an update on the project this fall.
With Boris Proulx and The Canadian Press