MONTREAL 鈥� The Quebec government is moving ahead with a controversial transportation project in the provincial capital that has for years been a political lightning rod.
Premier Fran莽ois Legault announced Thursday his government is planning to build a third bridge connecting Quebec City with suburbs across the St. Lawrence River.
The decision comes after Legault abandoned the project last year, infuriating some voters and members of his own caucus, and then promised to revive it last fall 鈥� one day after his Coalition Avenir Qu茅bec candidate lost a Quebec City byelection.
Legault initially pitched the project as a way to alleviate traffic in the capital region, but he now says the so-called "third link" is important to ensure trucks transporting goods could still get to the city if one of the two existing bridges closed.
鈥淲e have to have humility when we need to revisit a decision,鈥� Legault told a news conference Thursday. 鈥淚n taking a step back, we noticed that the issue of economic security is very important. So that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e changing our decision.鈥�
The announcement followed a new report Wednesday from Quebec鈥檚 pension fund manager 鈥� the Caisse de d茅p么t et placement du Qu茅bec 鈥� saying a third link is not justified and would only reduce travel time by about five minutes.
The report instead recommended a $15-billion public transit plan for the region that includes a tramway network. On Thursday, Legault also gave the green light to the first phase of that plan, worth $5 billion. 鈥淲e can do both,鈥� the premier said.
The third link, despite being a hypothetical project in a metropolitan area of less than one million people, has contributed to Legault鈥檚 declining political fortunes and has often attracted national attention.
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre staked out his position on X Thursday, saying he supports the third link and accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government has refused to fund the project, of being 鈥渙bsessed with a war on cars鈥� and ignoring people who live in the suburbs.
However, Poilievre also said he wouldn鈥檛 invest 鈥渙ne cent of federal money鈥� in a tramway if he becomes prime minister. The Liberal government, on the other hand, has previously committed to funding part of a tramway project.
On Thursday, Legault said he鈥檚 hopeful he can get money for both projects from either a Liberal or Conservative government.
The announcement is the latest development in a years-long political drama. The project was one of Legault鈥檚 key campaign promises during the 2018 and 2022 provincial elections, intended to appeal to voters in battleground ridings in the Quebec City region. But in a major about-face in April last year, his government announced the project was no longer justified, due in part to reduced traffic following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The backlash was swift. In October, one day after losing a Quebec City byelection and facing dismal polls, Legault abruptly changed tack and put the third link back on the table. 鈥淟osing Quebec (City) is out of the question,鈥� he said at the time.
The new justification for the project 鈥� economic security 鈥� is 鈥�100 per cent political,鈥� said Rudy Husny, a political analyst and former federal Conservative adviser. 鈥淭he CAQ was able to get in power with the support of Quebec City and L茅vis and all that region. It started there, their climb into power.鈥�
The CAQ鈥檚 support base is largely outside Montreal, Husny said, and the government has tried to show it鈥檚 focused on the needs of Quebec City, which often feels overlooked.
But the flip-flops on the third link have 鈥渄amaged the connection鈥� with voters in a region Legault can鈥檛 afford to ignore, said political analyst Antonine Yaccarini. She said the issue has become so polarizing around Quebec City that people feel they can only support the third link or the tramway, not both.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e for the third link, you鈥檙e labelled as not caring about the environment or public transit. And if you鈥檙e for the tramway, you鈥檙e told you want to wage war on cars,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd it contributes to ensuring that none of the projects is completed.鈥�
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2024.
Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press
