Quebec City civic group visits Edmonton to learn from city’s transit expansion experiences

The mayor of Quebec City and a delegation are in Edmonton to see how the LRT system works.

A group representing Quebec City, including its mayor, is visiting Edmonton as part of a learning exchange on civic projects.

Quebec City’s delegation includes Mayor Bruno Marchand, two city councillors and the chief executive officer of the city’s chamber of commerce.

The visitors from Quebec are taking a close look at Edmonton’s LRT and transit system to help them shape their own transportation expansion plans.

“Most of the time we look at ourselves and we try to find solutions in our own backyard (but) we need to (look) at other cities and learn from them. It will be quicker ... to learn from other cities, and that’s why we came here,” Marchand said on Monday at city hall alongside Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack.

During the two-day visit in Edmonton, representatives from both cities will also exchange views of common municipal interests such as waste management, housing affordability, downtown vibrancy, homelessness and public safety.

Knack said while Edmonton’s history of LRT construction hasn’t been perfect, the city has learned lessons from its mistakes and can learn from Quebec City’s experiences as well.

“I think all of our bigger cities are deeply committed to balancing the current and future needs of our residents,” he told reporters. “Of course, this is always a balance when we’re dealing with limited infrastructure funding with something that we’ve worked with the federal government on and trying to figure out how, in the future, we can continue to better fund municipalities, which are responsible for about 60 per cent of the infrastructure with about 10 per cent of the tax dollars that come in.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson