Minister Éric Caire’s attack on the mayor of Quebec City, Bruno Marchand, regarding the development of the Quebec tramway project, says a lot about what the CAQ really thinks of public transit projects.
Posted on March 27
In a particularly scathing outing, last Wednesday, the Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital accused the mayor of wanting to “pollute the lives of motorists”. Admittedly, this is quite ironic! Mr. Caire apologized within hours, but the damage was done.
This cry from the heart of a CAQ minister is revealing: more than ever, his government is positioning itself as the party of motorists and road infrastructure, far ahead of public transit and development measures that promote active transportation. This is all the more true since the arrival in the political landscape of the Conservative Party of Éric Duhaime, on which the CAQ aligns itself, especially in the region of Quebec.
That the Quebec tramway project needs improvements is quite possible, the problem is not there. The problem is in this unpleasant impression that when it comes to public transit projects, and more broadly the fight against climate change, we are at odds with this government, which still makes cars its priority. Consider the widening of the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge, a project straight out of the 1960s. Or the famous third link, which will further promote the use of cars.
That said, we will not base our assessment of the CAQ’s positions on the environment on the excesses of Minister Caire. It’s the latest budget – and its lack of strong measures to reduce GHGs – that clearly shows that the environment is not a priority within the CAQ.
In total, only 2% of the Girard budget is allocated to environmental measures. Thanks to anticipated revenues from the carbon market, the government is adding $1 billion to its 2022-2027 environmental plan, for a total of $7.6 billion. But for every dollar invested in infrastructure, only about a third is devoted to public transit. The rest goes to road maintenance and rehabilitation.
The Minister of the Environment must present the update of his plan for a green economy in the next few days, but it is clear that this budget absolutely does not reflect the urgency of the fight against climate change.
There is no strong measure that would allow us to significantly reduce our GHGs and reach our target, a reduction of 37.5% compared to the 1990 level. For the moment, the CAQ refuses to make any decisions. difficult.
Where are the measures to encourage people to abandon the car or, at least, to use it less often when the price of gas is reaching peaks? The budget provides for a reduction in subsidies for the purchase of electric vehicles, but does not provide for any additional tax that would discourage the purchase of more fuel-efficient vehicles, which are more and more numerous on our roads. Should I remind him? For the Montreal region alone, traffic congestion cost more than $4 billion in 2018, according to the Montreal Metropolitan Community.
In a calculation that is surprising to say the least, the CAQ would like us to believe, without laughing, that part of the expenses for the road network, that is $471 million, in fact represent investments in public transit since they include the development reserved lanes for buses, carpooling and electric cars, etc.
Additional disappointment in terms of eco-taxation, where there is however room for creativity to encourage more ecological behavior. Not only are we not using new taxes, but we are not even indexing existing taxes, such as the levy on new tires, for example, set at $3 since… 1999.
The fight against inflation, a priority for the Legault government, does not however exclude the fight against global warming. An example: social pricing in public transport. This is what the city of Calgary – which is still not the most left-wing and green place in the country – is doing by offering a monthly pass reduced by 53% for low-income families. However, this type of measure pays off on several levels since, in addition to encouraging an ecological gesture, it has a direct effect on employability.
But in Quebec, it’s as if we persisted in thinking in silos. We seem unable to have a broad vision, to establish cause and effect links between, on the one hand, the fight against GHGs, land use planning, investment in public transport and, on the other share, access to employment, movement of goods and health expenditure. It is as if we refused to do the math that investments in active transportation, for example, with their beneficial effects on the health of the population, will result at the other end in a reduction in hospital visits .
This absence of a broad and long-term vision risks costing us dearly. However, the latest IPCC report is unequivocal: the planet is sick. We can quibble about how much time we have left before the water rises to our knees, but if we continue at this rate, it might be better to put the $500 from the Legault government aside for one day to buy boilers!