Under the watchful eye of Transport Minister Julie Boulet, Louis Chapdelaine, representing Consortium 25, affixes his signature to the Public-Private Partnership Entente relating to the Autoroute 25 project. The agreement, signed in late September of 2007, has come under fire from several sources that question the validity of the public hearings held to assess the environmental impact of the project. These organizations, which include the FTQ, the CSN and CRE, also question the lack of transparency on the part of the Charest government in the administration of public funds related to the project, citing in particular the lack of information concerning the profit margins allowed project developers.
(Photo: Martin Alarie, Courrier Laval)
Government of Quebec put on notice to suspend work on Autoroute 25
Coalition opposing project denounces lack of transparency in private-public partnership
Members of the Coalition Against the Extension of Autoroute 25 two weeks ago petitioned the Charest government to suspend the work on the extension of Autoroute 25 until the legal challenge to the validity of the environmental impact assessment has been heard in Quebec Superior Court.
This new measure relates to a judicial step taken in the winter of 2006, the intention of which was to invalidate the public consultation process of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environment (BAPE) – (Bureau of Public Hearings on the Environment), which took place in the spring of 2005. The process was deemed a travesty by the plaintiffs.
“Our case will be heard on May 13, 2008,” notes André Poirier, director-general of the Conseil regional de l’environment (CRE) de Montréal.
Not too late
Despite the fact that the PPP ententes were ratified two months ago and that a first contract signed with Canam for the structural steel component of the future bridge, it’s not too late to return to square one, according to Mr. Poirier, who says that the real work will only begin in the spring.
If the government turns a blind eye to their demands, the plaintiffs could resort to a court injunction to stop the work in the river, until the court pronounces itself on the legitimacy of the BAPE hearings.
“In our opinion, the entire process of evaluation and consultation has to be redone, this time specifically focusing on the real project, unlike the 2005 exercise which was based on a concept that did not allow for an evaluation of the environmental impacts,” says CRE Montreal director-general Poirier.
As to the work costing dozens of millions of dollars already undertaken in Montreal and Laval to align local roads with the extension of Autoroute 25, it is “viable” with or without the bridge, says André Poirier.
Transparency
Elsewhere, the Conseil regional FTQ Montreal metropolitain (Quebec Fedration of Labour), le Conseil central du Montreal metropolitain de la CSN (Confederation of National Trade Unions) and Équiterre have joined CRE to denounce the “lack of transparency” surrounding the agreement reached with the private agency, within the framework of the first-ever private-public partnership.
“After shielding the extension of Autoroute project from a real environmental impact study (...) the Quebec government now removes the possibility of the people knowing the real costs of the project by tabling an agreement in which certain financial elements have been scratched out,” these groups conclude, following their study of the 680 page entente, obtained through the Access to Information Act.
A situation deemed “completely unacceptable” that, according to them, “constitutes a clear step backward in the matter of the management of public funds.”
“If the Charest government wants to be credible with respect to the advantages of private-public partnerships, it has to give proof of transparency and let the people judge for themselves if the PPP and the extension of Autoroute 25 are desirable,” points out Michel Ducharme, president of the Conseil regional FTQ Montreal metropolitain.
The labour unions and environmental groups also point out that the Quebec government promised to be more transparent than Great Britain in its PPP contracts. In the meantime, Great Britain publicly reveals the total financial figures in PPP agreements, including the profit margins enjoyed by developers.
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(Photo: Martin Alarie, Courrier Laval)
Steven Guilbeault - Chronique environnement
Richard Cléroux - Le fouineur politique
