Good morning, everyone.
Thank you very much for having me here today.
I'm going to tell you about a situation in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu. Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu and Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu are two small villages on the south shore of Montreal. Our region is located at the junction of several highways close to Contrecoeur.
In recent years, we no longer have had the opportunity to build the ice bridge that used to allow our two communities to live in symbiosis during the winter. The winter detour between the two communities is 50 kilometres. Now, with the ice bridge, the journey was 500 metres to reach the other side of the river.
During the summer, we have a summer crossing route. In fact, a cable ferry carries cars and pedestrians. However, the outlook for winter is very bleak.
In November 2018, the municipality of Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu and the municipality of Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu agreed to end the partnership that allowed an ice bridge to be created and used every winter between the two banks of the Richelieu River. In recent years, the opening period of the ice bridge had become less predictable and shorter. Over five years, we only managed to open the ice bridge three times. What's more, the man in charge of the bridge wanted to retire, given his age. Of course, building an ice bridge is an art. Moreover, with changing weather conditions, it is becoming impossible to create this bridge.
We also have the imminent arrival, in our neck of the woods, of a port terminal to be built in Contrecoeur with a fairly substantial maritime portion. We're trying to find solutions so that we can have a year-round crossing at Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu.
We have done some preliminary research to try to correct the problem with a bubble de-icing system to allow boats to cross during the winter. The costs involved are quite substantial. According to a 2019 study, the system alone would cost $650,000. Today, costs are now estimated at over $1 million.
The cable ferry is operated by a private company, which has no interest in offering this service during the winter period, although there is the possibility of doing so.
We are therefore turning to the federal government. We need solutions.
There are three ferries on the Richelieu River, but municipalities have no say in the operation of these ferries, since private companies operate them. We'd like the federal government to give us a say in the renewal of permits and agreements for the river crossing. This would enable us to set conditions so that municipalities can benefit year-round.
We could even buy back these ferries to have a longer-term strategy. Responsibility for this service could be transferred to the Société des traversiers du Québec; we could even create an intermunicipal board that would be responsible for it. We need to look further ahead. We need help to build new, modern, electrified ferries, which would enable us to have year-round ferry routes by eliminating ice with ice-breaking ferries.
We'll soon be lucky enough to have a National Shipbuilding Strategy in Sorel-Tracy, which could be put to good use in a project.
Federal government support is essential to maintaining a vital year-round axis for our communities along the Richelieu River. One example is Bell Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, where a year-round ferry route has been in operation for several years. The economic boom on Bell Island has been most positive.
We want to have a year-round system for our communities. This would finally allow us to create links with surrounding municipalities, both for fire and police services, to help us better manage both towns. We could even, one day, merge some municipalities and set up an efficient system between two communities.
Thank you very much.