Contrary to what the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, keeps repeating, it is not a “vast majority” of the stakeholders consulted by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) in the framework of his analysis of mobility in Quebec who spoke of “economic security”.
In fact, only about 70 of the 172 stakeholders consulted (just over 40%) “expressed concerns about the security of trade links, freight transport or the redundancy of existing bridges,” CDPQ confirmed to The Canadian Press on Wednesday.
Last Thursday, Mme Guilbault affirmed in a press conference with Prime Minister François Legault, then during a series of interviews, that a “vast majority” of the stakeholders consulted by the CDPQ had spoken of “economic security”.
For a week now, the Legault government has been raising the argument of “economic security” to justify its decision to relaunch the third Quebec-Lévis motorway link.
“(The CDPQ says) “we are aware that there is a very big economic security issue to the extent that there is only the Pierre-Laporte bridge which can accommodate goods throughout eastern Quebec” and that many, many, many people, because they spoke to 172 stakeholders as part of their work, and a large majority of these people expressed concern about redundancy, the possibility of having an alternative at the Pierre-Laporte Bridge,” declared Geneviève Guilbault on Radio-Canada last Thursday.
“So, as a result, they are saying, ‘The government could explore the possibility of having a new inter-river link,’” she added.
In its report presented to the general public last week, the CDPQ does not recommend the construction of a third Quebec-Lévis highway link. She does not take a position on the issue of “economic security”, saying that it goes beyond her mandate, but affirms that “several” speakers have expressed concerns about the safety and redundancy of existing bridges.
“Following these meetings, we noted that more than 40% of them expressed concerns about the security of commercial links, the transport of goods or the redundancy of existing bridges,” responded the CDPQ to The Canadian Press, Wednesday.
Asked to provide an exact percentage, the organization clarified that it was more than 40%, but less than 43%.