QUESTION PERIOD — Transport
Trans-Canada Highway
December 12, 2019
Senator Harder, I guess this will also be my last question for you since Senator Plett took my first one.
My question relates to the construction timelines for the completion of the twinning of Highway 185 between Saint-Antonin and Saint Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, Quebec. That section of the road is part of the Trans-Canada Highway and is a critical transportation route to Atlantic Canada.
In its Made in Canada: Growing Canada’s Value-Added Food Sector report, the Senate’s Agriculture and Forestry Committee recommended that the federal government work with the Quebec government to expedite twinning the highway in this area to maintain and expand an efficient road network to reduce the transportation costs to Atlantic Canada.
A recent article in the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal indicated that the Quebec government has no plans to speed up construction and will instead complete the project in 2025. This delay amounts to close to $2 billion in lost GDP per year for our country.
Will the federal government provide additional funding to expedite the building of a road to economic prosperity for Maritimers?
I thank the honourable senator for her question, and I’m grateful that she gave notice of her question so that I could inform myself and be able to report to the house.
The government clearly understands the importance of the vital linkage to which the honourable senator has referred and is investing $390 million to this project of twinning Highway 185. Having uninterrupted highway linkage between Quebec and New Brunswick is, in the view of the government, critical for our trade agenda as well as for the movement of people between the Maritime provinces and Quebec.
While the government is pleased to be making the investment alongside the Government of Quebec, it is important to note that the management of the project and its timelines are the province’s alone to decide. In keeping with the practices of the Government of Canada, the government does not dictate project schedules and routes to our partners but are always there to support the priorities of Quebec, as appropriate. The government will continue to do so.
