Public transit: 'Easier for mayors to beg' than manage funds, says Legault

It's "always easier for mayors to beg" the government "than to clean up their own spending," said Premier François Legault on Thursday, under pressure from cities to pay off municipal transit company deficits.

He was defending Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, who is under attack from all sides for her controversial statements.

In the Montreal metropolitan region, the transit shortfall is estimated at $561 million, but the minister had suggested on Wednesday that it wasn't her job to manage public transit in Quebec.

"I don't trust Ms. Guilbault," retorted Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand, still irritated by the government's decision to withdraw the tramway project from his city and entrust it to the Caisse de dépôt et placement.

"There is no vision of sustainable mobility. For her, transportation means developing roads. With that, we're back to Joseph-Arthur's 'Temps d'une paix,'" he continued, evoking a famous soap opera set in the 1920s.

"I have total confidence in Geneviève Guilbault, and what I say to Bruno now is: let's look ahead,” said Legault, during an announcement in the capital where the mayor was present.

"I understand that mayors would like more money from the Quebec government. I've been in politics long enough to know that for mayors, it's always easier to beg Quebec than to clean up their spending," said Legault.

He insisted that his government would continue discussions with the municipalities, which must "do their part."

At the press conference, he refused to specify where they should "clean up their act," while pointing out that their employees are paid 30 per cent more than those in the Quebec public service.

During question period, the CAQ leader faced numerous attacks from the opposition parties.

"Does he consider it his government's role to have a vision for transportation and take responsibility for it, or does he consider that it's not his job to manage it?" asked PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

"Is the leader of the PQ telling us that the Société de transport de Montréal, the Société de transport de Laval, the transportation companies should be managed by the Quebec government?” replied Legault.

The premier pointed out that his government finances 48 per cent of the transit companies' operating expenses, compared to 39 per cent under the Liberals.

Guilbault, who has called for an audit of the transit companies, said it was only natural that the government should have its say before absorbing the deficits.

She made a point of clarifying what she had said the day before: when she said that Quebec had no business meddling in the management of public transport, she meant operations, service on routes, hiring, collective agreements, maintenance, and so on.

These decisions are made by transit company managers, she said.

"Despite everything, we pay a large part of their deficits. Does (the opposition MNA) think it's normal that the transit companies' deficits are systematically passed on to the government, and that we should systematically pay them without being held accountable?" she said.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 25, 2024.