The Quebec Federation of Municipalities (FQM) is calling for massive decentralization of the state and full cellular coverage of Quebec by the end of the next term.
These demands are part of the nine measures presented to the attention of the parties running in the provincial elections on October 3rd.
The municipal group, as “spokesperson for the regions”, deplores the status of poor relation that still sticks to them in its opinion. Deficient health care, incomplete cellular network, public transport almost absent: the regions and their inhabitants play on unequal terms compared to the big cities, and it is all of Quebec that suffers, maintains the FQM.
The Federation presents Thursday nine measures to be put in place by the next government to make up for this deficit. Several demands are based around the same theme: the decentralization of services and of the Quebec government.
“The Quebec state is one of the most centralized governments”, deplores the platform, which asks the parties “to go further” than the transfer of 5000 positions in the regions started at the beginning of the year by the CAQ. The FQM asks them to break up the decision-making centres, often concentrated in Montreal and Quebec, to bring them closer to regional realities.
According to the organization, the regions should be left to define and meet their own housing and labor needs. Housing and staffing shortages are hitting many of them hard. However, the solutions recommended at the top of large structures are often ill-suited to the requirements on the ground.
“We are looking at Quebec as if all its regions were the same,” laments Jacques Demers, president of the FQM. “The successive governments have never fulfilled their promises in terms of social, community and affordable housing”, recalls the organization, which sees in the housing file “one more proof that the unique national programs managed by a single entity never manage to adapt to the needs and achieve the set objectives”.
Ditto for health care. “The centralization experienced in recent years has led to the disappearance of local services,” writes the FQM, sometimes forcing residents living far from major centers to travel long distances to obtain care provided only in the city. “The pandemic has demonstrated more than ever the limits of this approach”, deplores the municipal grouping, which believes that the Ministry of Health would benefit from the regions having “the levers and the resources” to organize the services themselves. .
The centralization experienced in recent years has led to the disappearance of local services
The FQM also reiterates a request that it already made in 2018, namely the extension of the cellular network to the entire territory of Quebec. “It’s a historic request, like Internet access, which we’ve been demanding since 2003,” recalls Mr. Demers. This file is in the process of being resolved, but in terms of cellular coverage, we are still mapping the places where the network does not work. »
Environment and transport
On the environmental front, the FQM criticizes the lack of means made available to the regions to deal with climate change. “The development process must be reviewed, the coherence of the interventions of the ministries is lacking and the financial means are sorely lacking”, stipulates the platform presented Thursday.
The Federation is calling in particular for the implementation of a reforestation program under the aegis of the regions, the creation of regional parks and massive investment to help municipalities cope with the effects of global warming.
In terms of public transit, the FQM sums up the last decades to a constant erosion of services. “Interregional transportation options are diminishing and citizens must use the automobile more to access services,” notes the municipal group.
The president of the Federation is also campaigning for a greater intercity transport offer to be put in place in the regions. “The most important source of greenhouse gases is transportation,” recalls Jacques Demers. “We are not necessarily asking for circuits with buses every 15 minutes, it would be unrealistic in many places. People, on the other hand, should have options other than the car. »
The FQM is also campaigning for the regions to participate more in major renewable energy production projects. Jacques Demers believes that municipalities and RCMs could derive additional revenue in the form of royalties when wind turbines are set up in a territory. “It would allow us to get away from our dependence on property taxes,” he says. Anyway, we know it: renewable energy will come from the regions. »
The platform presented Thursday stems from a consultation with more than 1,000 people, including local elected officials. The FQM and its president also draw a positive balance sheet from the four years of the caquists, welcoming in particular the progress made in terms of high-speed Internet coverage and the redistribution of income from the QST. “However, there is still a lot of work to do,” concludes Mr. Demers.