Quebec to create new agency to oversee public transit development

Quebec Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility Geneviève Guilbault tabled her long-awaited bill on Thursday to create Mobilité Infra Québec, an agency for the development of public transit.

The minister said she wanted to regain control of the sector, adding that projects are being carried out too slowly, and they're costing too much. 

Guilbault says her new agency aims to correct these problems.

It will carry out "opportunity analysis, planning and implementation of complex transportation projects."

The legislation specifies that Mobilité Infra Québec will be able to "acquire, by expropriation, the properties it deems necessary to carry out its mission on its own behalf or on behalf of the government, a local municipality, a public transit corporation, the Réseau de transport métropolitain (REM) or the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM)."

At the same time, Quebec Infrastructure Minister Jonatan Julien tabled a bill to reform the way public contracts are awarded in order to reduce construction costs and times.

Under certain conditions, the bill will allow a public body to conclude a contract by mutual agreement after an unsuccessful call for tenders.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 9, 2024.