(Drummondville) Tax on gasoline and registration
UMQ’s mayors asked the government to “make public transportation across Quebec a national priority” and index the gasoline and registration tax, which has not changed in years.
They also want the Quebec government to:
- Quebec balances planned investments in the infrastructure program by allocating a greater relative share to public transport compared to roads.
- Diversifies revenue sources for public transport to compensate for expected drop in revenue linked to fuel tax from 2025-2026.
- Facilitates enforcement of registration tax and fuel tax by municipal department.
- The future Mobilité Infra Québec ensures that municipal autonomy will be respected in matters of land-use planning and financial management, particularly with regard to the financial contribution of municipal bodies to a project.
“Disaster” cities must pay for public transit projects
Valérie Plante believes that Mobilité Infra Québec, the new agency created by Transport and Sustainable Mobility Minister Geneviève Guilbault, must have independent sources of income to continue implementing major public transport projects. Montreal’s mayor believes it’s “catastrophic” to require cities to foot part of the bill all the time.
“Having a dedicated fund will really help a lot, it will give predictability and allow us to make decisions in the long run,” said Ms.me Plant at a press conference on Friday.
The Mayor responded that a bill had been tabled to create a new corporation. Minister Genevieve Guilbault believes cities should be expected to pay part of the cost of implementing public transport projects.
Photo by Jacques Bosinot, Press of Canada
Montreal’s mayor, Valéry Plante, speaks with his opponent from Quebec, Bruno Marchand.
“I expect the municipalities to cooperate and agree on an amount. This is also planned [qu’à défaut d’entente]The government will decide the contribution in question,” he said on Thursday.
Quebec’s mayor Bruno Marchant strongly opposes this. “No. The minister said that cities paying for public transport infrastructure networks is historic. It’s not history. It’s happened a few times with fees and contracts at REM. [sur le tramway de Québec], but it is not history. UMQ will participate in discussions, but beyond [il faut savoir] Where we are going by 2040, how much it will cost and how we will finance it. We cannot fund piecemeal and we will not succeed,” he said.
Mme Plante added: “The Montreal metro, the route to Laval, has nothing to do with Laval. So it’s not history. And it can’t be. [devenir] Wall to wall, it can be devastating. »
Hello to electrification
The mayors are asking the Quebec government to recognize that targets for the electrification of bus fleets “have an impact on the structural deficit of transport companies” and want Minister Genevieve Guilbault to delay “achieving public transport electrification targets”. “Limits funds available to maintain assets and adds pressure to operations”.
Mayor Bruno Marchant said the electricity bill for his city alone was 3 billion. Brigitte Bouchard-Milord, a researcher at Polytechnique Montreal, argued that it would be more cost-effective to install a diesel-powered bus that would remove four tonnes of GHG than to replace it with an electric bus. One ton of GHG reduction per passenger.
“We ask about electricity. We heard you. The targets in the Green Economy Plan are well-intentioned. […] We have very, very ambitious targets: 55% [d’autobus urbains électriques] In 2030; But we can clearly hear it giving more pressure. I’m thinking of something, I’ll get back to you,” said M.me Gilbald.
Many complaints
In this meeting regarding public transport, the elected officials of the municipality raised many grievances.
- Cities with less than 100,000 inhabitants, municipalities such as Drummondville, Granby, and companies such as the Régie intermunicipale de Transport Gaspésie–Îles-de-Madeleine, are not entitled to own their own bus fleet.
- The Regie de transport du Bas-Saint-Laurent has been waiting for almost a year for the Legault government to authorize the implementation of a $0.02 per liter gas tax to fund public transport.
- The cities of the northern crown of Montreal had to live with the lack of operation of the Eastern train, whose arrival collapsed with the arrival of the REM, which prevented the use of the tunnel under Mount Royal and significantly extended its travel time.
- It may be time to take inspiration from “the very socialist Doug Ford,” said Nicolas Dufour, mayor of Ribendini, who expects a long-term vision from the government with plans to serve his region.
- Eric Alan Caldwell, chairman of the board of directors of the Société de Transporte de Montreal, says he is “guilty” of being called a “beggar” by Prime Minister François Legault.
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