Quebec opposition parties pan CAQ's bailout offer for public transit

The Legault government's proposal to cover only 20 per cent of the $2.5 billion in deficits Quebec public transportation corporations are facing in the next five years could mean massive service cuts across the province, says opposition party Québec Solidaire.

"It's a national scandal, what's happening here," said Étienne Grandmont, the MNA for Taschereau riding and the party's transportation critic.

"We are heading toward massive service cuts in our public transportation companies. And who do you think will suffer the most from this? Obviously, the people on the outskirts."

Transit services outside urban cores are the least profitable, he explained, comparing the proposal to the austerity measures put forth by Philippe Couillard's Liberal government between 2014 and 2018.

He said transit corporations are still struggling to recover from the decrease in ridership caused by the pandemic and the phenomenon of working from home.

He said it is those who rely on public transit who will bear the brunt of the anticipated deficits transportation companies face.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesperson of Québec Solidaire (QS), accused Premier François Legault of abandoning public transit corporations, but Legault insisted on Wednesday that "no government has ever done as much as we have." 

And at some point, the municipalities have to share the cost, the premier said.

Finance Minister Eric Girard said Quebec and Ottawa already helped to compensate for the financial losses wrought by the pandemic. He said more than $2 billion was already paid out to transit corporations.

"Half of that came from the federal government. Since then, they've indicated that they would no longer provide emergency funding for the operation of public transit," Girard said.

Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault said the funding cut was a first proposal, and she is awaiting the transit corporations' counter proposal. Covering 20 per cent of the deficit was a "basis for negotiation," she said.

But QS isn't the only opposition party sounding the alarms. Quebec's Liberals and the Parti Québécois (PQ) have also expressed concern about the offer made by the government to the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) and the transportation companies in Quebec City, Laval, Gatineau, Lévis, Sherbrooke and Saguenay.

Liberal spokesperson for finance Monsef Derraji said transit corporations' budgets were already under pressure due to the necessary electrification of their fleets, a transition encouraged by the government to reduce the province's greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

Like Grandmont, PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he's concerned the cuts could create a downward spiral that leads to the loss of ridership and services.

It will be harder to reach objectives such as increasing ridership and reducing GHGs if financial support is cut, according to Marc Denault, president of the Association du Transport urbain du Québec (ATUQ), which represents 10 public transit corporations in the province.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante also expressed concerns, saying the government has always funded at least 30 per cent of transit operating costs. The last thing she wants to see is a reduction of public transit services, she said.

"What was on the table was quite far from what we traditionally receive as funding from the government," she said.