(Quebec) The minister responsible for Chaudière-Appalaches, Bernard Drainville, wipes away the tears he shed after the abandonment of the third highway link and takes up the pilgrim’s staff while the Prime Minister resurrects the project in the form of a tunnel or, new, a bridge.
Ravi, his colleague in Beauce-Nord, Luc Provençal, will also propose a new version of the project which would allow the passage of heavy goods vehicles.
François Legault caused quite a shock in his caucus on Tuesday, the day after his crushing defeat in Jean-Talon. A shock as great as its deputies had suffered during the retreat on the promise of a third link; they had been presented with a fait accompli here again.
The Prime Minister has decided to launch consultations with his deputies and the population of the greater Quebec region and to put everything on the table. He reopened the door to a highway tunnel. The decline in its flagship promise in the capital region is at the origin of voters’ loss of confidence in the Coalition Avenir Québec, he believes.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESS
François Legault
The Prime Minister reiterated his intentions on Wednesday. “I think it’s important not to be dogmatic. It is important to consult the population and not exclude the possibility of having a third link. Either a bridge, a tunnel, for trucks. Look at all the possibilities,” he argued while the leaders of the opposition parties bombarded him with questions and criticism at the Salon Bleu.
A few moments earlier, CAQ elected officials from the South Shore rejoiced at this turnaround, which is interpreted more broadly as a 180-degree turn in the caucus.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Martine Biron
“The idea is to remain calm, to have conservation, and I am happy that the Prime Minister has opened this door and that there are no taboo subjects on the table,” said the Minister Martine Biron, MP for Chutes-de-la-Chaudière. “I made a few calls, partners in my constituency. I spoke in particular with the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Lévis. She is excited about this idea. »
Same enthusiasm from Bernard Drainville. “The Prime Minister says: we have had a hard time and we must listen to the citizens. I can’t help but agree with him. We’ve had a hard time, and we have to agree to question ourselves. So we are going to listen to the citizens,” said the member for Lévis during a press scrum.
This spring, he presented, in tears, his apologies to his “angry” citizens after the Prime Minister’s decision to bury the third motorway link.
Hope is reborn today. “I always believed in a new link. Always. I always believe in a new connection. Now, I don’t want us to make empty promises. We’re going to listen to people and we’re going to see what they have to offer us. » Support for the highway tunnel is massive on the South Shore.
“What I tell my constituents is that I am here to represent you! », Launched the minister. “I will proudly represent the citizens of Lévis and Chaudière-Appalaches. »
“All options are on the table, including possibly, there is no commitment, there is a willingness to listen and if we listen, that may mean that indeed, there is the option of the third road link. This is certainly one of the options that could be put on the table when we discuss with citizens. »
MP Luc Provençal says he received an enthusiastic response from the mayors of his constituency of Beauce-Nord after the Prime Minister’s announcement on Tuesday. “I have had a few calls and indeed, they are very happy to see that we are going to reopen this file,” he said.
He intends to propose his own version of the third link. “I continued to consult people in my community and we are working on a project,” he revealed. He suggested that this link, unlike the last version of the tunnel, would allow trucks to pass through. “We need to think more about heavy traffic,” he insisted, an argument which obviously resonated with the Prime Minister.
Member of Parliament for Bellechasse, Stéphanie Lachance affirmed that her constituents want to be heard by the government and are ardently demanding a third road link. “In Bellechasse, there is no means of public transportation. So, people, inevitably, are forced to travel by car. For them, it’s a need,” she pleaded.
The opposition reacts
Rather than promising anything, rather than relaunching us in this project, he should table a plan for mobility, improve mobility in the greater Quebec region. […] There he tries to find his sex appeal electoralist in the greater Quebec region.
Marc Tanguay, interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party
What a lack of respect for the people of the Quebec region. What a lack of respect for Quebecers. The Prime Minister ran through two elections with a promise that did not hold water. […]. All it takes is a by-election for him to return to his dead end.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire
By bringing back the possibility of the third link, the Prime Minister is once again demonstrating that his decisions are based on the mood of the moment, on improvisation.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, leader of the Parti Québécois