“The leader of the Green Party of Quebec and candidate in Chicoutimi, Alex Tyrrell, met with the press Monday morning to propose an increase in funding for the Société de transport du Saguenay (STS) in order to make the service free.
Mr. Tyrrell wants to inject $25 million into the STS by drawing the money from the green fund. He believes that there would be more public transit users if there were no cost to access it.
There is no reason why people should have to pay for public transit on every bus,” Tyrrell said. We have very few tolls on the highways, but we have tolls on every bus and in Montreal in every metro station. It’s a question of priorities. Do we really want to discourage the use of public transit or do we want to reduce greenhouse gases, fight climate change and encourage people to take public transit? »
The leader of the Green Party adds that Saguenay would have to maintain its annual contribution of $11 million to make such a measure possible. »
I am in Chicoutimi to campaign in the April 11 by-election.
We started the day with a press conference where we asked the provincial government to double the annual budget of the Société de Transport du Saguenay. Radio-Canada coverage: http://bit.ly/1MQw0Np
Then we went to Chicoutimi CEGEP to meet the students with the other candidates.
At the end of the day, I will be on Radio-Canada to take part in the program “l’heure de pointe” with Jean-Pierre Girard.
I’m very optimistic for the future. The Quebec Green Party’s eco-socialist message resonates with the local population, as do our proposals for free public transit and our opposition to the sacrifice of a green space between Chicoutimi and Jonquière to allow the ultra-subsidized multinational, Rio Tinto Alcan, to store a mountain of waste from their Jonquière plant.
More details will follow. Tuesday evening I will participate in a debate with my opponents, organized by the students of UQAC.
Together for a green Quebec!
Alex Tyrrell
Candidate in Chicoutimi
Leader of the Green Party of Quebec
