Environmental review of light-rail project 'ignores facts and distorts reality,' Caisse says

Backers of Montreal's planned light-rail project are fighting back after Quebec's environmental review agency raised a number of concerns about the proposal.

In a report released Friday, the environmental agency (BAPE) said the documentation for the planned rail network is incomplete, and "several essential elements of the project were not subject to public debate and unable to be analyzed."

• Read about the environmental review here

In response, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which is behind the project, issued a lengthy statement this morning accusing the BAPE of making "several omissions and errors" in its assessment of the project.

Here are some of the key points in the statement: 

• The Caisse denied making plans behind closed doors, saying thousands of pages of project details and environmental assessments are available on the project's website. The Caisse added that it has held 12 open house meetings with the public. 
• The Caisse took issue with questions about whether the light-rail system would meet needs on the West Island, saying residents have been demanding better public transit "for decades."
• The Caisse says the new system would alleviate congestion on the clogged Deux-Montagnes AMT line, contrary to the BAPE's assessment.
• The Caisse says the BAPE made several "incomprehensible mistakes" in its criticism of the chosen route. While the BAPE wanted the train to run along Highway 20, numerous studies show Highway 40 would be preferable, the Caisse said.
• The Caisse says the BAPE  failed to take into account 1,200 pages of documentation in its environmental assessment of the project.

The project, slated to be completed by 2020, would connect 24 stations stretching from the South Shore to Montreal's Trudeau airport and beyond, to both the West Island and Laval.

• Where would Montreal's 24 new light rail stations be located?

The Caisse has committed $3 billion to building the 67-kilometre network. The balance, about $2.9 billion, is expected to come from the federal and provincial governments.

'We will make it happen,' Coderre says

It appears the province will move forward with the LRT despite concerns raised by the BAPE and some environmental groups.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said Friday the light-rail network is the city's "most important project in the last 50 years."

"I'll see the report, but in the end, we need [it] and we will make it happen," said Coderre. 

Quebec Transport Minister Laurent Lessard praised the BAPE for conducting a thorough review that may lead to changes, but he stressed that "it is a project that will go ahead."

• New light rail system for Montreal by 2020. Seriously?