(Quebec) The Legault government made the “very difficult” decision to give up building a highway tunnel between Quebec and Lévis out of pragmatism, according to Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault. The opposition parties claim victory, but question the value of the word of François Legault.
“I’ll save my answers and project details for an announcement tomorrow, but I just want to say that we had to make a very difficult decision in the third link, but which we believe is a responsible decision and that we are first and foremost a pragmatic government,” Ms. Guilbault said Wednesday upon her arrival at the National Assembly.
She will present a new public transit project on Thursday, at the same time as studies on ridership showing a drop in traffic on the two Quebec-Lévis bridges after the pandemic and due to the rise of telework.
The Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) is thus abandoning an important electoral promise. Bernard Drainville said the wait had become “hellish” on both decks. Martine Biron said that “anyone who lives in Quebec knows that it takes a third link”. Despite the absence of studies to support his tunnel project, Premier François Legault said it was “obvious” that a third link was necessary given the development of the two cities and the traffic in the area. region.
The Liberal Party, Québec solidaire and the PQ all advocated a public transit project to link the cities of Québec and Lévis. They therefore claim victory on this point, but they nevertheless criticize the decline of the CAQ.
“During the election campaign, François Legault made it a key position. He rolled everyone in flour, François Legault. He’s been fooling everyone for five years, he’s been in government for five years,” said interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay.
“He has no voice. He did not keep his word. And Eric Caire was saying it, just finishing on that, Eric Caire was saying it, he said, “I’m going to fight to the last drop of my blood.” He said that no later than 2022, to realize it. He has to swallow it up, in the morning, there, ”he added.
The parliamentary leader of Quebec solidaire Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois believes that this is the victory of “common sense and science” against “the stubbornness of the CAQ”.
“Beyond inflation, even beyond the pandemic, which has undoubtedly accelerated the transition to teleworking in Quebec, the fundamental question remains. In the midst of a climate crisis, adding motorway lanes to decongest a city makes no sense. That’s not what science tells us to do, that’s not what the region needs, that’s not what common sense teaches us is the best solution,” he said. he says.
He claims to have a “favourable bias” towards public transit, but will wait for the details of the project before supporting it or not.
For his part, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is also in favor of public transit to unite the two cities. But he has “great difficulty believing” that François Legault believed what he said on the campaign trail.
