On Day 2 of the election campaign, the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, declared that his project for a bridge linking the South Shore to Île d’Orléans was not cast “in concrete “, even if he is” the favorite of the population “, according to him. Citizens would be consulted about this third link between Quebec and Lévis, he assured.
“We won’t get there like savages,” Mr. Duhaime said Monday during a press conference at the Gilmour strike in Lévis, near where the new bridge would be built. With its candidate Karine Laflamme, the PCQ hopes to delight the riding of Lévis to the Caquists. The outgoing deputy, François Paradis, did not seek a new mandate.
Mr. Duhaime touted the “tremendous” benefits of a new bridge. He had presented this project during the unveiling of his electoral platform on August 14.
Regarding the route of the third link, Éric Duhaime assured “that there will be no zigzags on the island”. A “kind of highway” would connect the new bridge to the one that already exists between the North Shore of Quebec and Île d’Orléans.
A bridge would be faster to build and cheaper than the tunnel proposed by the CAQ, repeated Éric Duhaime, who nevertheless remains cautious about the cost of such a project. If the PCQ is brought to power, negotiations with the federal government will be necessary to determine the place of public transit in this project and the subsidies that could then be granted, underlined Mr. Duhaime. “Is it going to be two lanes for motorists, a shared lane with public transport? »
Last week, Duhaime had estimated the cost of the project at 3 billion. The cost of the third link of the CAQ would amount to some 6.5 billion.
The leader of the PCQ said he was campaigning “for the citizens of the greater Quebec City region who want to have more fluid traffic. He was confident, even if local elected officials are opposed to a link crossing Île d’Orléans to preserve the beauty and landscapes of the place.
Éric Duhaime responded to François Legault who accused him on Sunday of wanting to “destroy the landscape” with this new bridge.
In 2018, at the start of its mandate, the Legault government had recommended a similar project. “Is he telling us that four years ago he wanted to destroy the landscape? “raised the leader of the PCQ.
Cairo must “resign”
The Conservative leader has called on the CAQ candidate in La Peltrie, Éric Caire, to withdraw from the race. The outgoing Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital has not respected his commitments regarding the third link, according to Mr. Duhaime.
“If the CAQ forms a government and I have something to do with the realization of this project, and the CAQ does not do it, I will resign,” said Mr. Caire in 2018, on FM93. .