(Ottawa) The federal MP for Louis-Hébert, Joël Lightbound, is perplexed by Prime Minister François Legault’s idea of resurrecting the third link after the defeat of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in Jean-Talon. The Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, recalled that the federal government will not loosen the purse strings.
“Have the reasons given by the government for renouncing this commitment suddenly melted like snow in the sun? Have they disappeared? Is there suddenly a lot more traffic between the South Shore and the North Shore? Have the project costs decreased drastically? », asked Joël Lightbound in the press scrum on Wednesday, before the Liberal caucus meeting.
“Me, it leaves me perplexed like, I think, many people in the Quebec region and sometimes, when I look at this whole saga, it makes me think a little of the Dinner for idiots, he added. Sadly, it is the population of Quebec who seems to be invited. » He was referring to the famous French film starring Thierry Lhermite and Jacques Villeret.
The abandonment of the highway tunnel project between Quebec and Lévis only partially explains the defeat of the CAQ in Jean-Talon on Monday, according to him. “I think that the feeling of many people in Quebec is that we did not tell them everything during the last election campaign,” he noted. I think that’s more than abandoning the project. »
The federal MP, who has not ruled out entering the race for leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec when the rules are known, has not hidden his opposition to the project. “Building one of the largest tunnels in the world for the population that is served, with the costs that we do not know exactly, but the bill risks being steep, I think that there are more promising projects for Quebec,” he said.
The federal government’s position has not changed on the issue of the third link, reiterated the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault. “The federal government does not finance the construction of new road infrastructure. We of course finance the maintenance of the road network and public transportation. We are very eager to see the tramway project in Quebec move forward. »
Prime Minister François Legault recognized that the setback on his flagship promise in the Quebec region is at the origin of the loss of voter confidence. The Parti Québécois won the CAQ seat in the riding of Jean-Talon during the by-election on Monday. The independence group is thus making a return to the Quebec region, where it had disappeared since 2018.