Legault does not accept “no” to Ottawa because of his third bond

François Legault does not accept the unfavorable response from the Trudeau government to its request to fund 40% of the highway tunnel project between Quebec and Levis.

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I do not accept Mr. Duclos’ answer. […] “If the federal government decides that it wants to fund 40% of the Quebec-Levis Tunnel, it can do so,” he said Wednesday during a press conference in Quebec.

Last week, the Trudeau government denied its demand to pay 40% of the Third Link project, which could cost up to $10 billion.

“We already know that a large part of the third link between Levis and Quebec cannot be funded by the Canadian government, because it is a highway project,” Federal Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said.

Reserved lanes

Funds may be provided for the reserved track portion of the project, but this is not certain, as current federal programs fund heavy projects, such as trams and electric trains.

François Legault argues, however, that Ottawa has spent $260 million to expand Highway 19 north of Montreal, which includes a reserved lane. He also argues that the LPC has pledged to support a Newfoundland and Labrador road link project. “The government has all the powers to do this,” he said.

Federal funding

He is counting on the virtual federal election campaign to put pressure on all federal political parties. “It will be an important topic, we are preparing the applications. The big demand will be the financing of 40% of the tunnel.

If the legislature’s support is not won, conservatives will be more receptive to the project. “We will have more to say about Episode Three in a few weeks,” the office of Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole said.

paternalistic

In a press release, Representative Pierre-Paul Hoss said the Trudeau government’s response referred to a “patriarchal and centralized” government.

“The Conservative Party of Canada, the only party at the federal level to support the Third Link Project, welcomes this concrete request from the Quebec government for federal funding for the project. […] He pointed out that the O’Toole government will work in cooperation and partnership with the regions, and this will facilitate the progress of projects.

On the part of the NDP, we are talking more about a complete and total rejection: it is considered a useless, very expensive and environmentally harmful project.