What happens when you loudly oppose every proposed solution?
We find ourselves… running out of solutions. This is what is happening to the Legault government with the funding of roads and public transport.
Our colleague Charles Lecavalier recently told us that the Land Transportation Network Fund, or FORT, is in deficit1. This is no surprise to anyone.
This fund finances the construction and maintenance of provincial roads, as well as part of the public transport projects. Its revenues come mainly from gasoline tax, driver’s license fees and vehicle registration fees.
With the expanding road network and new public transport projects, expenses are increasing.
Revenues are beginning to stagnate. It is difficult to know what is attributable to the pandemic and what is the beginning of an underlying trend, but it is known that gasoline consumption is expected to decrease as the fleet of electric vehicles expands .
The government must therefore find a way to make up for the deficits of the FORT. And not in 10 or 15 years, but now. How ?
The Ministry of Transport has done its homework and launched a project on the issue. A summary document has been produced. Many options have been proposed.
The problem is that politicians are short-circuiting the process by rejecting outright all solutions akin to taxes for motorists.
The Legault government so ridiculed Québec solidaire’s “orange” taxes during the election campaign that it painted itself into a corner. He must now set aside ideas put forward by his own ministries in the name of the dogmatic credo “no new taxes”.
Take the kilometer tax. The idea is simple: the more you drive, the more you pay. The advantage is that we will thus seek money in the pockets of electric car drivers. These do not burn gasoline, but contribute to congestion and wear down the roads.
This tax is considered “necessary” by the Ministry of Natural Resources2. The Montreal Metropolitan Community will launch a pilot project in this direction. We ourselves supported the idea3.
Last month, the Montreal Journal revealed that Quebec was also studying this option. It’s perfectly legitimate. But former Transport Minister François Bonnardel reacted as if he had been caught in the act of stealing an old lady’s satchel. He swore that such a tax would never be introduced during this mandate. In the office of the new Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, we repeat the same counterproductive message.
The kilometer tax is an excellent solution in the medium term. But it presents technological challenges and is not for tomorrow. In the meantime, we must find other ways to bail out the FORT. The documents of the Ministry of Transport advance several of them.
An increase in registration fees? The Legault government says no. However, it is a sensible solution, especially if these rights are modulated according to the energy consumption of the vehicles.
An increase in the gas tax, which has not changed since 2013? It’s still no.
Tolls? No more.
An increased contribution from the Green Fund, with the FORT also financing public transport? Not even. Last April, the government instead reduced the minimum amounts from the carbon market that must be invested in public transit from 66% to 25%.
In short, like the doll of the song, Quebec goes “no, no, no, no”. But he offers nothing in return. We understand that in times of inflation, raising taxes is not ideal. But let’s keep in mind that motorists are still far from paying the real cost of the roads.
If nothing is done, it is in the government’s consolidated fund, financed by our taxes, that we will dip to bail out the FORT. Politically, it’s clever. Unlike a tax, it does not show. But that would completely undermine the user-pays principle. And would invalidate the very principle of a fund devoted to transport.