Couillard calls into question its proposed rapid rail link between Quebec city and Montreal

Photo By Marc-André Gagnon
Two weeks after having launched the idea of a new fast link and “modern” between Quebec and Montreal, the prime minister Philippe Couillard puts into question the path of his project “futuristic”.

Marc-André Gagnon

Tuesday, 12 December 2017 12:15

UPDATE
Tuesday, 12 December 2017 12:21

Look at this article

TORONTO | Two weeks after having launched the idea of a new fast link and “modern” between Quebec and Montreal, the prime minister Philippe Couillard puts into question the path of his project “futuristic”.

Invited by our parliamentary Bureau to determine if the points A and B of his project was always Quebec and Montreal, the prime minister Philippe Couillard, who is visiting Toronto, has been answered in the negative.

“No,” he retorted. It depends on what the fed will say on the TGF. If the federal government funds specifically, the TGF, what they have not done up to now, so much the better.”

The layout of the “flagship project” of which Mr. Couillard has spoken for the first time in front of the members of his party in congress assembled, on the 26th of November last, would therefore depend on now that will give the federal government the project of VIA Rail.

In raising the possibility of a monorail, two weeks ago, Mr. Couillard has drawn much criticism from, in particular, many municipal mayors, and the Coalition avenir Québec, who prefer precisely the project of a train at high frequency (TGF) VIA Rail in the Quebec-Windsor corridor.

The desire of modernity

The prime minister, who criticised the CAQ to promote the ideas of the past, has once again made the wish, Tuesday, of a transportation project worthy of the 21st century.

“I just hope one thing, however, and I’ll say it in a very clear way, the prime minister said: it is a rail project, which part of Toronto, Windsor, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec city. It is necessary that the technology be of the same level everywhere. I do not think that the Québécois would accept that there are two levels of technology on the two segments of the project.”

In the event that the project of TGF is materialized with the financial support of the federal government, Mr. Couillard believes that “technologies of the 21st century”, as the monorail or others, could help solve the problems of mobility elsewhere in Quebec.

“Look at the crowns of Quebec, we look at the north crown of Montreal, Laval, Lower Laurentians, that we look at the southern suburbs of Montreal: this is a major challenge of mobility”, said Mr. Couillard.

The Points of contention

The premier of Quebec, was on a visit to Toronto on Tuesday to attend a conference on the future of the canadian confederation with its counterpart in ontario, Kathleen Wynne. The premier of Ontario has again expressed his disagreement with the act respecting the religious neutrality adopted by the government of Quebec.

Unlike Mr. Couillard, Ms. Wynne has no intention to relaunch the constitutional debate, and no plan to tax Netflix.

“We will proceed”, reiterated Mr. Couillard about Netflix. “This is not a question of taxation. It is a question of fairness”, he added.

Ms. Wynne believes, despite everything, have more points in common than points of contention with the province of Quebec, notably on environmental issues.