Montreal-area mayors call out Quebec over 'radio silence' on public transit funding

Montreal-area mayors say they're running out of time to address a budgetary shortfall that threatens to severely restrict bus and Metro services, and they're calling out the Quebec government for "its radio silence" on the issue.

Two weeks ago, Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault said the province would be willing to absorb only 20 per cent of an estimated $2.5-billion deficit for public transit services in and around Montreal. That deficit would be spread over the next five years.

Montreal-area mayors countered that offer a week later, asking Quebec to soak up 75 per cent of the shortfalls. 

Since then, the mayors say they haven't heard back from Guilbault. Considering their cities are days away from having to finalize their annual budgets, they say the transport minister's silence is unacceptable.

"There's been no counter-offer, no phone call, no conversations," said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante during a joint news conference on Tuesday with Laval Mayor Stéphane Boyer, Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier and Lise Michaud, the mayor of Mercier who's also the president of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal.

"We're asking the minister and the Quebec government to submit a counter-proposal as quickly as possible. It has to be done because we have to adopt budgets."

Fournier echoed Plante's statements, saying that the government has "lacked seriousness" during talks.

A confidential document obtained last week by Radio-Canada outlined hypothetical scenarios for the future of public transit services if the provincial government did not provide more money: Montreal's Metro could close at 11 p.m., intercity buses could stop at 9 p.m., and entire lines could be cut from the transit network.

Guilbault has said the offer to absorb 20 per cent of the estimated deficit was just a starting point in negotiations. The minister is expected to speak later Tuesday.

Montreal's mayor said talks with the province over an essential service like public transit shouldn't feel like negotiations.

"It should be a discussion because we're partners," Plante said. "Now we're in negotiation mode. It's the last thing you want when you're dealing with public transit."

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Speaking to reporters in Quebec City on Tuesday, Guilbault said she tabled her first proposal on Oct. 13 and didn't hear back from transit authorities until Oct. 24.  

That means she waited 11 days for a counter-proposal that had limited details but was asking the government to cover 75 per cent of deficits, she said.

This is not realistic because "we don't have that kind of money at the government. We have a lot of expenses to pay for," said Guilbault.

She cited the struggling negotiations with public-sector unions as a concern, saying there has to be a way for transit companies to better control expenses.

She said she will offer a new proposal this week but declined to give further details.

She said her ministry is in regular discussions with Montreal-area mayors. She was just in a meeting with the mayors on Friday, she said, and "when they say we don't talk, that's not true."