The creation of Mobilité Infra Québec has been described as a small revolution in the planning of major public transport projects. Above all, it is a subtle centralization initiative in the hands of the Legault government. Far from ensuring the growth of sustainable mobility, the new agency will further limit the action of urban areas in devising solutions to make cities sustainable living environments on a human and environmental scale.
Let us immediately salute the post-sales work of the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (sic), Geneviève Guilbault. Thanks to the creation of the new agency, “agility is assured,” said the minister.
Indeed, one only has to look at the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM) to be satisfied with this high-sounding rhetoric. The creation of the ARTM introduced an additional layer of complexity into public transport planning, even though it aimed at the exact opposite. Damn the foundations are shaky. We added another layer with the creation of Mobilité Infra Québec.
Minister Guilbault recalls that the Ministry of Transport does not have the expertise to embark on large-scale projects in the area of sustainable mobility. It is a terrible admission of powerlessness that also afflicted previous governments (PQ and Liberal). The Department of Transportation, that unreformable beast, encourages the laying of asphalt and the pouring of concrete. The abandonment of all hope of reforming it is a staggering symbol of state immobility.
On the other hand, a new structure is no guarantee of efficiency and imagination. It is the mandate, governance, resources, expertise and complementarity with existing organizations that count. Mobilité Infra Québec will start from scratch with a budget which, ultimately, will hover around $9 million per year. Everything in its governance, right down to appointments, takes on the appearance of a path that leads to Quebec.
We are witnessing nothing more than the creation of a “mega project office”, according to Minister Guilbault’s expression. An office which will swallow up all the other project offices for the sake of efficiency, with an openness to the public-private network in the realization of the works. The scope of Bill 61 is also broader than transportation; it also targets the construction of public infrastructure such as schools or health establishments.
The Minister responsible for Infrastructure, Jonatan Julien, wants to open an era of collaboration with the private sector, with the aim of improving efficiency and reducing costs. These are legitimate objectives, but they do not exempt from a duty of care. First, it will be necessary to modify the Directive on the management of major public infrastructure projects, adopted in the wake of the Charbonneau Commission. The casualness with which Minister Julien dismisses the risk of future collusion is profoundly irresponsible.
There are lots of nice finds in the bill on the creation of the Agency. She will not have any power of initiative, so she will have to wait until Quebec is willing to submit projects to her for analysis, in public transport and in terms of road works. These two missions are often contrasted in Geneviève Guilbault’s speech; his penchant for the latter is as obvious as a pothole in spring.
Quebec will therefore have the great game of deciding which projects are worthy of attention. The Metropolitan Community of Montreal (CMM) and the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), active in a territory that includes nearly half of Quebec’s population, are the biggest losers from this reform which will further reduce their power of influence , already weakened by the emergence of the ARTM. Cities that have ambitions in terms of public transport will experience the same fate. The minister says she wants to collaborate with mayors and consult them before putting projects on the drawing board. We only have to look at the acrimonious relations that the government maintains with the “seekers” of the municipal world to anticipate the limits of the consultation exercise. The conductor of the train will be in Quebec, end of conversation.
The bill also ignores solutions to finance future projects and maintain existing assets. The Legault government has expressed its disdain for taxes on gasoline or registration, or even for the return of road tolls. It’s as if he wanted to put on cities and public transport users (through service cuts, cost reductions, increases in property taxes or fares) the responsibility of supporting public transport, while saving money. these poor motorists.
Yellow lights are piling up on the Legault government’s dashboard. Despite the good intentions behind the creation of Mobilité Infra Québec, its lack of vision and ambition in public transport raise fears of failure.