The outgoing mayors of Longueuil and Laval, Catherine Fournier and Stéphane Boyer, will launch joint tenders for the first time in Quebec to cut public infrastructure costs.
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“We are really changing the municipal culture, we are used to working for ourselves” […]but the idea is to come and coordinate,” Mayor Catherine Fournier said during a press briefing held at the Joseph-William-Gendron swimming pool in Longueuil on Sunday.
The announcement is therefore part of both cities' push to achieve lower prices without compromising quality and sustainability standards, Mr Boyer and Ms Fournier explained.
The breakneck rise in the cost of public infrastructure has made headlines in recent months.
Last April, Catherine Fournier condemned the exorbitant cost of replacing the traffic lights, which amounted to $1.1 million. “We swim too much,” she said.
Planned measures
Their approach includes a joint tender for the construction of facilities that can be replicated in the two cities, provisions for the exchange of plans and prices, and the implementation of joint projects.
“Every city now pays for new plans every time, whether it's a fire station, a swimming pool or a park. There are many contexts in which we could have the same buildings in different cities,” says Mr. Boyer.
As an example, Ms. Fournier cites swimming pool renovations that could be shared between the two cities to share the costs. The Joseph-William-Gendron basin project, for example, in the Saint-Hubert region is valued at 16 million.
Of this amount, 3 million is tied to plans and quotes. “This is an amount we could share,” Ms. Fournier pleads.
“There may be more standardized buildings, but at the same time they will be less of a burden on our public finances,” she continues.
Elected officials also commit to review bidding practices to reduce overly specific or redundant criteria and avoid customized projects.
Municipal elections
This is not the first time these two mayoral candidates have joined forces in a municipal election. In 2021, they have teamed up to provide solutions to the housing crisis.
They kept their promise by holding a Quebec-wide housing summit in 2022, at which numerous problematic issues will be discussed.
“If the people of Laval and Longueuil decide to re-elect us, we really want to create this alliance that can then resonate with the rest of Quebec,” Mr. Boyer says.
