Quebec is considering certain relaxations in the application of the vaccine passport, but before moving forward, Prime Minister François Legault wishes to obtain the approval of public health experts whom he met on Monday evening.
“What we want is, as soon as possible, to remove all the measures, but we must follow the recommendations of Public Health so as not to take uncalculated risks concerning the situation in hospitals”, explained the Prime Minister, passing through Longueuil on Tuesday afternoon to meet the mayor, Catherine Fournier.
On Monday, hospitalization data showed 2,095 patients with COVID-19 being treated in hospitals, but François Legault wants to remain cautious. “It’s a good reduction compared to the ceiling we reached in [plus de]3400 [en janvier dernier]but it’s still high,” he noted.
The members of the government were to meet Monday evening with experts from Public Health, the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec and the National Institute of Excellence in Health and Social Services in order to learn about the projections concerning the evolution the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalization data.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced Monday morning his government’s intention to lift passport restrictions on July 1.er March in almost every public space in Ontario as long as the situation continues to improve.
The possible withdrawal of the vaccine passport is not linked to the demonstrations of truckers in several cities of the country, however indicated François Legault. “We are not just talking about truckers. [Chez] many Quebecers are fed up with the measures, and I understand that. There are those who disagree. We have the right in Quebec to demonstrate, to say that we do not agree with certain measures, but to go and lay down a siege, to go and disturb other citizens, to go and prevent workers from working, that is unacceptable. »
The South Shore REM
The Prime Minister visited Catherine Fournier on Monday to discuss, among other things, the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) project on the South Shore. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has undertaken analyzes with a view to installing a REM between the future Panama station, in Brossard, and the Longueuil–Université-de-Sherbrooke metro station, in the axis of the boulevard Taschereau, with an extension to Boucherville.
Enthusiastic Mayor Catherine Fournier, however, expressed her concerns to the Prime Minister about the establishment of a REM in Vieux-Longueuil. “It crosses the heritage district of Vieux-Longueuil, so it is certain that an aerial structure poses several challenges in terms of urban integration,” she said, referring to the possibility of a train circulating in the ground in this area.
She also raised concerns about the presence of aerial structures in the axis of boulevard Taschereau, an artery that her city wishes to redevelop in the coming years to make it greener and more user-friendly. However, the mayor said she was encouraged by the government’s openness to collaborating with Ville de Longueuil on this file.
“For me, the Rive-Sud REM will be very beautiful and very well integrated into the architecture of the various places where it will pass,” commented François Legault.
The Prime Minister and the Mayor also discussed housing. Catherine Fournier is asking the government to grant her city a right of first refusal similar to that held by the City of Montreal in order to acquire land for the construction of social housing. The Prime Minister does not rule out the possibility of granting the mayor’s wish: “I have an openness to giving additional powers to the City for the benefit of all citizens, even if it could perhaps shock a few citizens who would be faced with a right of first refusal that they might not like”.