Nine months before the elections, a coalition of organizations will hold a Summit to urge the government to strengthen its future policy on land use planning and to fight against urban sprawl. We know the song, but this time will it be the right one?
AT Quebec morning, chroniclers who follow automobile congestion increasingly mention the intersection of Route de Fossambault and Route 369 in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier.
Barely a few years ago, it was still a semi-rural environment, where people from Quebec visited on weekends for the attractions of the Duchesnay tourist resort or Lake Saint-Joseph. However, driven by rapid real estate development, the municipality has become a prosperous suburb.
To one of its residents who inquired last year about traffic congestion problems, the municipality replied in writing that this stemmed from municipalities even more on the outskirts, such as Saint-Raymond, 60 kilometers from Quebec. “If a citizen cannot settle in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, he will settle in Saint-Raymond or Pont-Rouge, and there is a good chance that he will take the road of Fossambault all the same. »
For the CAQ MP for Portneuf, Vincent Caron, urban sprawl towards this region does not necessarily pose a problem. “I’m happy that it’s developing because there were still a lot of residences that had been for sale for a long time. Moreover, he mentions, the community now has a much easier time attracting family physicians.
The agricultural territory continues to be protected, despite the new constructions, he also mentions. “But of course we have to think about all that and not advocate development at all costs. »
As far as road congestion is concerned, the answer is clear: we will have to create a new road link to the motorway. “We won’t have a choice,” he said. “Municipalities are growing, and we will have to meet the needs of our fellow citizens. »
Costly urban sprawl
However, this model is seriously challenged in a policy project launched by Mr. Caron’s government: the National Architecture and Land Use Planning Policy.
“As a mode of development, urban sprawl is costly for society as a whole,” reads the document that was the subject of a consultation this summer. Indeed, the scattered nature of urbanization increases the cost of linear networks (eg aqueduct and sewer) and requires more public investment for human services. Urban sprawl is obviously expensive for municipalities. »
The CAQ is not the first to make such a diagnosis. The former Minister of Municipal Affairs Nathalie Normandeau made the same speech… in 2009.
Are we dealing with another policy intended for the ministry’s tablets? Pious wishes or a communication exercise? A group of civil society organizations want to make sure that is not the case.
Next January 27, they will organize in Laval a major Quebec summit on land use planning entitled “Le courage d’agir”.
“This event is an opportunity, for all the actors who expect something from politics, to highlight the important issues, to specify the expectations and to remind that these expectations are high”, explains Jeanne Robin, co-president of the event and spokesperson for the Ariane Alliance, which brings together environmental organizations, such as the David Suzuki Foundation, but also defenders of built and agricultural heritage, such as the Union des producteurs agricole and Héritage Montréal, in particular.
For this event, the Ariane Alliance has also joined forces with the Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce (FCCQ), which has joined the G15+ group, which campaigns for a green recovery of the post-pandemic economy.
Despite the third link?
“We bring together all the driving forces in Quebec who are interested in land use planning. I do not see who is missing, ”explains the CEO of the FCCQ, Charles Milliard. “It’s a policy that will be extremely structuring for the next few years. And people would be wrong not to be interested in that. »
Three government ministers have confirmed their attendance. In addition to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, Ministers Lucie Lecours (Delegate for the Economy) and Nathalie Roy (Culture and Communications) are expected.
But can we really believe in the will to act of the CAQ in this file when we know its attachment to the Quebec-Lévis tunnel project?
This is a policy that will be extremely structuring for the next few years. And people would be wrong not to be interested in that.
Jeanne Robin replies that the consultations on the Policy this summer gave rise to “a strong mobilization” of citizens and elected municipal officials, which the government should not ignore. The exercise forced the various ministries involved to think together, she said. “And it is an electoral promise of the CAQ to adopt a national policy. The ingredients are therefore united. »
Charles Milliard adds that the Policy is not “a magic potion that will solve all the problems we currently have in Quebec”. Of course, the third link file “will be discussed,” he said.
One thing is certain, it does not appear on the program of the event, which rather aims to focus on themes on which there is consensus.
“Quebecers are interested in promoting local purchasing, the protection of agricultural heritage, wanting there to be better sustainable mobility in cities, but also between cities. […] I think that the interest needle of Quebecers has moved. They do not name it with the same words as us, but the train has left the station, and the CAQ has no choice but to answer these questions, ”said the president of the FCCQ.
It remains to be seen how. “The problem with urban sprawl is that it is not an orientation, a decision”, argues Mme Robin. “It is the consequence of small choices made by different actors. […] These are cumulative decisions without an overall vision or coherence. »
In this context, simply putting all this into a national policy that everyone agrees on is “in itself the most important action”, she says.
It will then be necessary to have the “courage to act”, notes Mr. Milliard. “People don’t die from bad land use policy like they die from COVID-19. We could always postpone this indefinitely, and God knows it has been done. It takes courage to say “Enough is enough! We reset the counter to zero”. »