For the only PQ MP in Quebec, Pascal Paradis, the position of the Parti Québécois (PQ) on the third Quebec-Lévis link is clear: “On the highway part, it will be excluded in 2026.”
The member for Jean-Talon made his decision on Saturday, on the sidelines of his party’s national council, in Drummondville. Riddled with questions this week, its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, nevertheless avoided saying whether he ruled out at all costs the addition of a motorway portion to his project for a link between the north shore and the south shore.
“The work needs to be done again,” he said, referring to the work of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), which has the mandate to analyze mobility issues in Quebec. On the social network
“If contracts are given and work is started for example, how can we as a possible responsible government not take this into account? » the PQ representative asked out loud.
Accosted on Saturday at the National Council of the PQ, his colleague MP for Jean-Talon, who had famously refused an offer from the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in 2022 due to his management of the third link file, wanted to put the points on the “i”: “on the motorway part, it is excluded. It was excluded in 2018, it was excluded in 2022, it was excluded during Jean-Talon’s campaign, it will be excluded in 2026,” said Pascal Paradis.
During the last elections, the PQ proposed the creation of a Quebec-Lévis link solely reserved for structuring public transportation. This would have been covered by an underwater light train.
“In 2026 [lors des élections générales]the Parti Québécois will make a global proposal on sustainable mobility and transport in Quebec which will take into account the situation in 2026. But on the highway part of a third link, our position has not changed and will not change not: it’s no,” argued Mr. Paradis.
The Caisse de dépôt et placement must submit a final report on mobility in Quebec by June, which must include conclusions on the construction of a structuring public transport project and on the possible erection of a link to the old capital and Lévis. However, even if this document recommends that a bridge or a highway tunnel be built, it is practically impossible for a first shovelful of earth to be carried out between now and the next election, according to MP Paradis.
“To say that there is going to be something built in 2026 before the next elections is fiction, it’s speculation,” he said on Saturday.
In 2021, before being elected, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said of the third link of the CAQ that “a Parti Québécois government would cancel this disproportionate project which does not serve the public interest and would invest the planned amounts in health, in education, social housing and public transportation.”