At Last, Autoroute 30, and it won’t only profit to trucking

I was quite joyful when I got the press release from the governments, because the federal is also involved in this project, which announces the selection of the partner chosen for the construction of this mystic road we are awaiting for the past 2 generations if not 3.

Here is how it translates, because most releases from the Quebec government is in French:
“The governments of Canada and Quebec are announcing the choice of Nouvelle Autoroute 30 S.E.N.C., to conclude the partnerships that will last 35 years for the conception, construction, financing, management, maintenance and rehabilitation of the prolongation of Autoroute 30.”

For your information, who is behind this company that is the private partner?

Acciona Concessions Canada Inc.
Iridium Concessions Canada Inc.
Acciona Infrastructures Canada Inc.
Dragados Canada Inc.
S.I.C.E.
Arup Canada Inc.
Construction DJL Inc.
Verreault Inc.

However, don’t be fooled by the names. Here are the real names.

Acciona Concessions S.L. a division of Acciona S.A. from Spain
Iridium Concesiones de Infraestructuras S.A. also from Spain
Acciona Infrastructures S.L. is another division of the first company
Dragados is a branch of Grupo ACS from Spain
S.I.C.E. is headquartered in Madrid
Arup is based in London UK
Construction DJL Inc. is from Boucherville PQ
Verreault Inc just got bought by Dessau also in Québec.

The top four companies are the ones that are going to manage, and finance the project. Arup is a specialist of electronic tolling, systems similar to the ETR407 and requires no manual tolls. The last two, from Quebec, are specialised in engineering and construction.

Who will get the bigger part of the financial pie?

I am not totally opposed to projects with private public partnership for a new infrastructure, even if we have been waiting for that roadway over 30 years now. Either the road passes on the north way along route 132 or in the middle of corn fields, what bothers me is that no company based in North America was chosen. Don’t we have any companies that can finance and manage such a project here, this side of the pond?

Was the proposal made by SNC-Lavalin not interesting enough for our governments?

We are on the edge of a meltdown of our economy and our government’s gives away to overseas interests contracts that the greater financial fallbacks are going to line pocket of strangers.

To take words of a former Prime Minister of Quebec, Master of our destiny (Maître chez nous), well I am not that sure of it.

3 Years, 3 Ministers, One Election Later…

It took 3 years, 3 Ministers and one election to arrive at a vote on Bill 41 in Queen’s Park, the Ontario legislative assembly yesterday June 16th. What is Bill 41? This is the measures that are going to limit your traveling speed at 105Kh/h across North America if you have to pass in Ontario.

Here in Quebec, last December, Minister Boulet confirmed that the dispositions included in the Quebec Bill 42 on speed limiters, won’t be in effect until all Canadian provinces adopt measures of the same kind for heavy trucks. We should remind her of this and that currently, only Ontario has passed a Bill that the applications are still in the hands of the Lieutenant Governor of the province.

Like if the rising costs of operations alone were not enough to slow down any professional driver that owns a truck. There are still some steps to be taken by the Owner Operators associations even if the assembly has voted.

I would like to apologise on the comments I had last week looking at the results of the online petition. It was the deception of the numbers considering how many professional drivers are going to be impacted across the continent.

Canadian, Ontario and Quebec Truckers are gutless

Only loud mouths on talk radio, on the CB and in truck-stops.

For the last three years, many papers, myself, on this blog and on XM Radio have tried to rally most of you and inform you about serious topics.

How many times have I warned you about the plans of the CTA and its board?

I had put online a petition on July 8^th 2007 so you could have a place to register your concerns about the proposal of large carriers and the Ministers of Transport in Ontario and Quebec to limit your income way before the oil companies took care of it with overpriced fuel.

For almost 11 months, only 956 persons, many of then Americans and people not even driving trucks, have put their names to this petition. If I consider that only in Quebec there are over 160,000 CDL or Class 1 holders and the majority of them are going to be affected by these measures. I can allow myself to simply say that many have no guts to fight for their rights and still accept submission without doing a thing about it.

I have thrown the towel, I sold my truck. I have resigned myself not to let a third party tell me how to conduct myself just like a preschooler. Yes I am still a Professional Driver, a modern day Cow-boy. The past motto on the Quebec plates was “The Beautiful Province” (La Belle Province) that was way before it became a poutine restaurant chain, now it is “I Remember” (Je me souviens) and I will keep in memory the days I could still operate my small trucking business the way I wanted.

If you wanted to sign the petition, it’s too late, I closed it.