The Third Link and the QLP's Odd Strategy
May contain traces of principles.
(Texte français disponible ici.)
This isn’t an article about the 3rd link. It’s an article about the Quebec Liberal Party’s odd strategy and its sometimes shifting principles. But we’ll take a little detour through the 3rd link to get there. (Besides, I hear it saves time.)
Before I continue, a clarification. I’m not just some damn Montrealer criticizing the 3rd link. I was born and raised in Quebec City, where I spent the first thirty years of my life. I’ve crossed the 1st and 2nd links several hundred times. And I still regularly return to Quebec City, where I have family and friends. Many of them live on the South Shore of Quebec City, cross the Quebec and Pierre-Laporte bridges regularly, and also think that the 3rd link is bonkers.
Until recently, the entire liberal caucus was officially against a new tunnel or bridge that would directly connect Quebec City and Lévis. Then, the sole leadership candidate, Charles Milliard, said he supported the project.
And the Liberal Party’s position had, de facto, changed. Fortunately for the QLP, no one asked questions about this second about-face regarding the 3rd link. (We tend to forget that it was the QLP that officially launched the project in 2017.) As for the liberal MNAs, they haven’t said much about it either. I don’t blame them.
This week, influencer and Liberal candidate Farnell Morisset came out in favour of the 3rd link, skillfully noting that we need to listen to the experts on how to build it.
The problem is that just about every expert out there recommends… not building the 3rd link.
First, because current and projected traffic volumes don’t justify it. Cross-river traffic has even declined in Quebec City since the CAQ took office in 2018.
Second, because the redundant bridge would cost at least ten billion in public funds—and likely more—and there is no scenario in which a private partner could realistically finance it. Even the Caisse de dépôt isn’t interested.
We could add to these arguments that the Quebec Bridge would be virtually eternal if we decided to maintain it properly, much like the Golden Gate Bridge, and that the Pierre-Laporte Bridge is still good for at least 50, maybe even 70 years. Taking care of the first two links both be both cheaper and smarter.
Finally, Quebec is saddled with a massive maintenance deficit for its roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals of $50 billion, compounded by an equally massive maintenance deficit for its water infrastructure, also of $50 billion.
That’s $100 billion in overdue maintenance. This total keeps rising because everything is deteriorating faster than we can repair it, and each new year brings new surprises, as we discover new buildings that are in worse shape than what we anticipated.
Not to mention the chronic labour shortage in the construction industry.
In short, we lack the money, shovels, pickaxes, and manpower just to maintain what we’ve already built. And on top of that, we’re adding a costly megaproject that meets no real need to the mix?
CAQ Minister Bernard Drainville would say to “lâchez-nous avec les experts.” (Give us a break with the experts.)
We’d expect better from a member of the Order of Engineers and from the highly versatile popularizer Farnell Morisset, but politics sometimes makes us jump through some strange hoops.
For years, the CAQ has been searching for data and studies to support the 3rd link without success.
I could devote an entire column to the recurring political nonsense, but that would be a waste of my time and yours. Everything has been said and repeated.
The project meets no real need and is indefensible from the standpoint of urban planning, public finances, and the opportunity costs it represents: the financial and human resources devoted to building the 3rd link cannot be used to address other needs—ones that are real and pressing.
To justify his surprising defence of the 3rd link—and the about-face he was forcing his party to make—Charles Milliard argued in an interview earlier this year that he had “ambition” for Quebec City, the province’s capital.
Promising a project costing 10, perhaps even 12 or 14 billion, that is not based on any real need, is not “having ambition” for the capital.
It is simply populist. And irresponsible.
+++++++
As I mentioned above, it was the Liberal Party that launched the 3rd link project under Philippe Couillard’s government.
In 2021, Dominique Anglade torpedoed “François Legault’s tunnel,” while hinting that a Liberal tunnel might be acceptable. Then, in 2022, Anglade dropped the 3rd link for good, because it was no longer rationally justifiable.
But the project remained popular in Quebec City, and, then as now, strategists within the QLP see it as a political opportunity.
I should mention here that I worked in the office of the leader of the official opposition for a few months in 2021, in a futile attempt to restore the QLP—a party I had never voted for—to the best it had been under Godbout, Lesage, and Bourassa. I was part of the minority who felt the party was losing credibility by clinging to the 3rd link.
Even today, setting aside the issues of common sense and principles, it still strikes me as a strange strategy, even when solely considering the political aspect.
The Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches regions (the South Shore of Quebec City) are a battleground for five parties. How many additional ridings, out of 18, can the QLP hope to win thanks to its renewed support for the 3rd link? One? Two? Four?
You’re being optimistic.
Even in Quebec City, the project is less popular than it used to be. Barely 52% of residents in the greater Quebec City area support its current version. But since 68% don’t believe the 3rd link will be built within the next 15 years, it may not carry much weight at the polls.
Regardless, the Liberal Party has been flatlining in Quebec City polls for years. In early July, the QLP stood at 14% across the region, tied with the CAQ. The Conservatives lead with 27%, followed by the PQ at 21%.
Québec Solidaire, at 4%, isn’t a factor, except in Taschereau, the riding that covers downtown Québec City, where the proposed 3rd link is particularly unpopular. (And where Farnell Morisset is running.)
In short, the 3rd link won’t do the QLP any favours in Quebec City. It won’t be any better elsewhere.
There are 107—soon 109—ridings outside the greater Quebec City area. (Quebec has just gone from 125 to 127.)
By adopting the same stance as the CAQ, the QLP is leaving the field completely open to the Parti Québécois, which will have an easy time touring the province, claiming that the QLP and the CAQ are two sides of the same coin. Even in Quebec City, the PQ will be able to rally opposition to the project, while the CAQ, the QLP, and the Conservative Party will split the votes of those who support it.
The PQ’s talking points are probably already written. “Would you rather have ten billion for your hospitals and schools, or ten billion for a bridge to nowhere?”
PSPP must be laughing his head off. So is my friend Pascal Paradis, who gave the CAQ a thorough thrashing in Jean-Talon, particularly on the issue of the 3rd link.
Which brings us to the QLP’s 2026 political platform.
“Regionalist. Nationalist. Federalist.”
Those are Charles Milliard’s words. They also top the QLP’s homepage, where the image at the top of this article comes from. The QLP is also banking on the economy. And the 3rd link.
A regionalist, nationalist, federalist party that focuses on the economy and a proposed 3rd link in Quebec City? This sounds a hell of a lot like the party that has governed us for the past eight years, and which three quarters of Quebecers want nothing more to do with.
And this is how the QLP seeks to differentiate itself?
If I were a Liberal candidate, I’d start to worry.
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My name is Patrick Déry. I’m a French-speaking Québécois writing for a living, and trying something different here. If you enjoyed reading this text, you can support me by buying me a coffee. Comments, shares, and “likes” are always appreciated.
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