Bernard Drainville, the minister responsible for the Chaudière-Appalaches region, revealed a scoop Monday in front of an audience of business people from the South Shore of Quebec.
It is “a given,” he declared, that CDPQ Infra, a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement, will offer a “third link” between the two banks of the national capital next June.
His words left no room for ambiguity: “The commitment we have from the Caisse is that they will submit a project for an inter-bank link. That’s a given. They are going to submit a project for a link between the two banks. »
This is anything but a certainty.
What is certain, however, is that Bernard Drainville, with this new declaration, further discredits the attempt to relaunch the “third link” by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).
A project, it should be remembered, which is connected to the artificial respirator and is only held together with pins and a few strings.
The politician also discredits his party, in the depths of the polls, in addition to casting doubts on the independence of the Fund.
My colleague Yves Boisvert had well described Drainville’s “ham politics” style in a column last April1. We cannot accuse the minister of denying his principles: he has just added another layer to the jam.
A brief reminder of the facts is necessary in this series.
At the request of the Legault government, CDPQ Infra agreed last November to study the mobility issue in the greater Quebec region. Its mandate: to find alternative solutions to the tramway project and improve the fluidity of travel, “particularly between the two banks”.
The group gave itself six months to conduct its analysis. We are about halfway through this exercise.
CDPQ Infra has already met around 90 “stakeholders”, such as groups of elected officials, chambers of commerce and transport companies2. Around fifty other meetings will be held over the coming weeks.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Quebec and Pierre-Laporte bridges, connecting the banks of Quebec and Lévis
At the same time, CDPQ Infra dissects the dozens of studies carried out since 1973 on the subject of a possible “third link” between Quebec and Lévis. Which includes the report used by the Legault government to justify the abandonment of the highway project in April 2023, due to lack of sufficient traffic3.
It is only at the end of this analysis that the group will submit a mobility plan to the Legault government next June.
Contrary to what Bernard Drainville said on Monday, CDPQ Infra has never committed to proposing a new link between Quebec and Lévis.
The mandate letter signed last November, each comma of which was scrutinized by dozens of pairs of eyes, does not commit him anywhere to suggest a brand new work between Quebec and Lévis, whether it is a tunnel or bridge.
The firmest commitment, if we can use such a term, is to recommend solutions to “improve mobility and fluidity in the Metropolitan Community of Quebec, particularly between the two shores”.
This leaves room for many possibilities. Among these: modifying the use of one of the two existing bridges, to accommodate more public transport, or improving the river shuttle service between the two banks.
A proper “third link”? Maybe, but maybe not.
Bernard Drainville tried (a little) to backpedal. He affirmed on the social network
In reality, his comments were clearly perceived as an attempt at interference, or even a political command, in the work carried out by the Fund.
Significantly, this is the second time in less than a month that a member of the Legault government has interfered in the analysis process carried out by CDPQ Infra in Quebec.
At the end of February, the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, launched a major “public consultation”, with dubious methodology, to probe the soul of Quebecers in relation to mobility needs in the capital4. This bogus survey must be integrated into CDPQ Infra’s analysis.
This new dose of confusion in the “third link” issue, courtesy of Bernard Drainville, will in no way calm the headwinds that the CAQ has been facing for several months.
What was a flagship promise since 2018 has become a burden.
1. Read our column “Ham politics”
2. Consult the CDPQ Infra approach
3. Read “Abandonment of the third motorway link: “I will not apologize””
4. Read our column “An apple, an orange and a third link”