Such is taken who thought he was taking.
In his last political gesture, the former mayor of Quebec, Régis Labeaume, had set fire to the third link of the CAQ. For nearly 2,000 words, supporting data, he had raised serious doubts about the relevance and feasibility of a tunnel already costed, at the time, at 10 billion dollars.
Gathered in congress a few days after the publication of the letter in November 2021, the CAQ monks had turned their throats and, above all, turned a deaf ear.
In turn, they had dismissed the criticisms made by Régis Labeaume to better point out the “bitterness” of a mayor at the end of his political life. Geneviève Guilbault, minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region at the time, had difficulty hiding her joy at seeing “a new era” opening up at the Hôtel de Ville de Québec.
Seventeen months later, a spectacular turnaround: looking contrite, the same minister, now in transport, closed the coffin of the third link whose epitaph the former mayor, a year and a half earlier, had already engraved .
“It was supernatural to listen to that, indicated Régis Labeaume to the Duty Friday. It was Hulk who had transformed: she lived her epiphany. I couldn’t get over hearing that. »
In the aftermath of an unprecedented collapse of the CAQ, the former mayor of Quebec does not try to hide his joy. Since Thursday, he has appeared in all the media platforms of the capital, he who has stood far from the political spotlight since his departure from the municipal arena.
Is revenge sweet, Mr. Mayor? “It’s not unpleasant at all to know that we were right,” coos the former elected official. Nor to deal a few blows to an opponent who himself stumbled on his own promise.
Fourteen years at the head of Quebec City, including three of which more often than not clashed with the CAQ over the tramway, gave Régis Labeaume some expertise in the government’s new profession of faith with regard to public transit.
“I don’t lend them any credibility on that,” he says. When they claim new data has changed the game, I don’t believe them for a second. It is impossible that the government did not have any ridership data before March. Myself, I had some during the pandemic: you see that it’s not that complicated. »
In his eyes, the CAQ never believed in the possibility of its own tunnel. “For me, it’s very clear that they’ve known for a while that it was never going to happen. The question was: when are we going to kill him? »
He recalls that the government, during its previous mandate, spent tens of millions of dollars on the third link. ” It is enormous! After that, they want us to believe that they had no idea before last March? Impossible ! »
Rather than burying the third link once and for all, Régis Labeaume believes, the CAQ is presenting yet another version, ecologist this time, to “gain points with the electorate who find that in sustainable development, they are not strong. »
“The idea is to restart a debate, to still delirious for years on this. In the end, it will be the same thing, predicts the former mayor. Do you really think that Ottawa is going to invest three billion dollars in a tunnel that makes no sense because of demographics? No way. »
The former mayor of Quebec wants to put the whole saga in perspective. “In 2018, if François Legault lost a third election in a row, it was the end of his political career. The third link allowed him to make gains in the Quebec region. They managed to stretch this until the last election without firing a shot and now they are pulling the plug. Three years from the next electoral meeting, I’m not sure that the CAQ will suffer that much. »
The government would normally pay a political cost, after knowingly lying, it claims, to the people. “Someone should benefit from this feeling of abandonment, believes Régis Labeaume. Except that the beneficiary of all this does not exist. There is no pair of arms to garner the outrage. »
As for the politicians on the south shore who, like the mayor of Lévis, say they are “flabbergasted” and “stunned” by the government’s volte-face, Régis Labeaume will not exhaust his supply of tissues to wipe away their tears.
“At the limit, I can understand them for feeling aggrieved. On the other hand, adds the former strongman of Quebec, their partisanship was purely political, without any scientific support. And they too took advantage of the third link: it was an incredible partisan political element to get elected on the south shore. Everyone benefited from it, ”believes Régis Labeaume, even those who play the indignant or the saddened today.
The former mayor who has become a columnist has a long memory and takes advantage of these media outings to shoot a few arrows, in particular at his former colleague from Lévis Gilles Lehouillier, who also turned his back, at one time, about a rapid interrival bus service.
“I couldn’t help but read that he felt betrayed. I want to say to him: ”Welcome to the club”. He now understands what it tastes like, betrayal. At the time of the SRB, he too had completely let me down. »
The death of the third highway link, which reddened the eyes of the deputy for Lévis, Bernard Drainville, and saw the deputy for La Peltrie, Éric Caire, quickly put away the sword on which he promised to impale himself, gives him back she want to return to the political arena?
“Sir, tell you how happy I am to be out of this and become a stage manager. I love that! »
In the stands, it is now he who watches the others untangle themselves in their promises. Obviously, since Thursday, he loves the show offered by the CAQ.