2023-10-14 12:35:00
A subsidy of $8.7 million from the Legault government to finance the debt of the Port of Quebec in dock repair projects is raising eyebrows. An “unacceptable” and “disappointing” decision, observers judge.
Last year, the Legault government awarded a subsidy of $8.7 million to the Quebec Port Authority (APQ), a federal company.
Everything was voted by decree in March 2022. The Ministry of Transport of Quebec (MTQ) has in fact granted “maximum financial assistance of $8,738,119, in the form of repayment of debt service, to which will be added costs and interest, for a period of up to 20 years, for the completion of 14 infrastructure upgrade projects necessary for port activities.
We are mainly talking about repairing the various platforms as well as optimizing terminal spaces. The fact that the Port of Quebec, a federal company, receives public funds from the pockets of Quebecers is denounced by GIRAM, a group of experts specializing in heritage, the environment and sustainable land development. This is, according to its president, Pierre-Paul Sénéchal, an “anomaly”.
“Unjustifiable” politically
The Legault government “crosses another line, that of the unacceptable,” he said. “How can we politically justify being able to draw on the Quebec public treasury to subsidize a company which, to escape Quebec laws, went to fight all the way to the Supreme Court? […] I find myself wondering if this Saint-Laurent Project, Mr. Legault’s brand image, will not have contributed to making him “forget” the constitutional rules. »
For constitutional law professor Patrick Taillon, even if this practice is not illegal or unconstitutional, “we are faced with an emblematic example of the dysfunctions of federalism”. He emphasizes that the port of Quebec is a federal responsibility and that investments should be 100% the responsibility of Ottawa. “Seeing Quebec compensate for Ottawa’s inaction is distressing. It is the Quebec taxpayer who must then pay double by assuming their share of federal expenses in the country’s other ports and by not benefiting, here in Quebec, from the federal investments to which we are entitled. »
According to him, this only increases the fiscal imbalance.
Standardized program
At the MTQ, it is explained that the investments made to the APQ are made in the context of the Avantage Saint-Laurent program, more precisely “measure 2” adopted following the slowdown caused by the pandemic.
“Canadian port authorities are eligible for funding from the Department, as part of measure 2,” writes spokesperson Émilie Lord.
At the APQ, the director of communications, Frédéric Lagacé, emphasizes that the Port is not the only one to benefit. “This is also done for other ports along the St. Lawrence,” he notes. “The economic sectors linked to these infrastructures are agri-food, construction, mining, etc. Quebec therefore benefits from the economic spinoffs. »
As for federal participation in these same projects, the Port does not detail it. “For certain projects, yes the federal government participated financially. However, for the federal government, the method of payment of financial support is different. »
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