Liberal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will be summoned for questioning over his “radical” proposal to stop building roads in Canada. The Commons Transport Committee unanimously voted 11-0 Guilbeault must answer for his declaration that Canada doesn’t need more roads, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. The motion was put forward by Conservative MP Mark Strahl, who called Guilbeault’s proposal “a radical policy.” If it passes, Guilbeault will be required to appear for questioning within 14 days. “His divisive comments, his extreme position has set off alarm bells in provincial capitals, in cities, in remote communities and indigenous communities right across the country,” said Strahl. “It is a radical policy.”“These were not comments where the minister was caught on a street corner by a lucky journalist who happened to find him while he was walking or riding his bike,” said Strahl. “These were comments given to a conference. These were prepared remarks by the minister of environment designed to send a message to Canadians.”Guilbeault’s remarks “caused an uproar and uncertainty” among Canadian premiers and municipal officials “right across the country,” Strahl said. “You will see clearly this is not an off-the-cuff remark from a radical activist minister.”“He said the government, ‘our government,’ the Trudeau government has made the decision to stop investing in new road infrastructure,” said Strahl. “He went on to say, quote, ‘The analysis we have done is the network is perfectly adequate to respond to the needs we have.’ This is an alarming point of view.”On February 12, Guilbeault delivered a speech via video call to a fundraising luncheon in Montréal sponsored by Trajectoire Québec, a public transit advocacy group. His remarks were published by the Montréal Gazette. “Our government has made the decision to stop investing in new road infrastructure,” Guilbeault told the crowd. “Of course we will continue to be there for cities, provinces and territories to maintain the existing network but there will be no more envelopes from the federal government to enlarge the road network.”“The analysis we have done is the network is perfectly adequate to respond to the needs we have,” Guilbeault claimed at the time. Two days later, Guilbeault backpedaled and told reporters he didn’t mean the claims he made. “Of course we are funding roads,” Guilbeault contradicted himself on February 14. “We have programs to fund roads. Maybe I should have been more specific.”When questioned what exactly he did mean, Guilbeault denied he said the Trudeau government would stop building roads. “That’s not what I said,” insisted Guilbeault, despite the reporter's offer to read his comments back to him. "What I have said is the solutions to our transport challenge pass by many different things,” he said. Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval told the committee on Wednesday the environment minister’s explanation was inadequate. “This could be the militant vision of someone who comes from a certain ideology who says, ‘Okay, I will say something that will be shocking to people,’” said Barsalou-Duval. “But when you are in government you’re supposed to be responsible and make decisions for all of our country.”Parliamentary secretary for infrastructure Liberal MP Chris Bittle denied Guilbeault had disclosed a new Liberal policy. “There has been no change in government policy,” said Bittle. “We are making historic investments across the country.”NDP MP Taylor Bachrach was still skeptical. “The minister did very clearly say there has been a policy change,” said Bachrach. “Mister Bittle on the other hand at this meeting has said there has been no policy change. The committee deserves to know which of those two things is true.”Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman told the committee the inadequacy of the nation’s road network was obvious to any driver. “It seems the prime minister’s radical environment minister has announced an infrastructure plan: more soul-sucking traffic, more gridlock,” said Lantsman. “Ask anybody who sits in traffic in the Greater Toronto Area, in Greater Vancouver, in Montréal, in Ottawa, why they are sitting in their cars for hours at a time.” “If you ask them if our road system is effective they will surely tell you no.”
