Important and necessary for the Quebec region

Since the CAQ came to power, transportation cases that have turned into psychodrama have been piling up in the Quebec City area. We now need to add the Quebec bridge.

If the Quebec government, the main user of the Quebec bridge, acquired the infrastructure, it is difficult to understand the reasons for the rebellion without having to pay more rent to the federal government for the bridge.

In fact, the Quebec government refused to take over the bridge. Then, he pays rent to use it from 1947 onwards. Since 1993, this rent has been paid to CN, which owns it but is not required to maintain it.

As the infrastructure corroded, de-icing salts were damaging it, so Quebec also undertook to replace the bridge deck. It is therefore imperative to carry out the work estimated at $784 million over 25 years.

Expected result

The Quebec Bridge is vital and essential to the Quebec region, whether or not there is a third link further east in the future. A solution suggested by many stakeholders in the file for years, the purchase of the bridge by the federal government, was finally agreed upon. So the Trudeau government appointed a negotiator, former CEO of the Industrial Alliance, Yvan Charest.

For three years, this trusted and respected businessman worked hard to resolve the impasse and succeeded. Against all odds, the two parties finally came to an agreement. The Quebec Bridge will therefore be protected!

There is only one Quebec treaty that has a right of first refusal. Quebec, by virtue of this right, may decide to match the offer if it wishes to become the purchaser. But even if it doesn’t, Quebec is brassy and unwilling to pay for bridge repairs.

However, CN has agreed to absorb part of the costs, as does the federal government, which invests two dollars for every dollar Quebec pays. Rent increases are common in Quebec when work of this magnitude is underway.

According to my information, Quebec should not add more than five million dollars a year to the seven million it currently pays in rent. It is very low for the state of Quebec. And then what is the future of the bridge, if the federal government can’t get it, CN can’t maintain it properly, and Quebec doesn’t want more?

Considering the importance of the bridges’ users, origin and destination (from west to west), no one can say: let’s destroy it and make a third link.

A third link

You’d have to be blind not to notice that CAQ has been repeating for months that both bridges (Quebec and Laporte) are aging and therefore need a tunnel.

The government is trying its best to justify its plan, which is also flawed. The federal government was not fooled. Mr. Charest didn’t even suspect it. Meanwhile, the Quebec Bridge, an architectural icon of the region, continues to corrode and deteriorate.

Tram costs increased as CAQ turned against the project. If she gets the strong lead predicted by the polls, she will continue to do so after the polls. As for the third link, it is vague and speculative.

Frankly, the Quebec region has never been so poorly served.