Federal budget 2016: Ottawa noncommittal on Montreal's public-transit wish list
Quebec's priorities include extension of Metro Blue Line and funding for Train de l'Ouest
The Liberal government's first budget, tabled Tuesday, allocates about $925 million for public transit infrastructure in Quebec over three years, but where that money will end up remains unclear.
Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau called the size of his government's commitment to invest in infrastructure "historic."
However, he isn't making any concrete promises quite yet.
Garneau said it will be up to the province of Quebec and its municipalities to consult and decide which projects will take precedence.
Quebec's wish list for public transit projects include an extension of the Metro Blue Line, Train de l'Ouest – the proposed light rail line to link Pointe-Claire to downtown Montreal – and a light rail line to Montreal's South Shore, via the new Champlain Bridge.
Garneau said those are all on the table.
"The money that we are putting into public transportation will end up in projects such as those," he said.
With files from Antoni Nerestant and Benjamin Shingler