If, if, if

If, if, if

This week’s start of service on the REM’s Deux Montagnes line begs the question of when Vaudreuil-Soulanges residents will be able to access the l’Anse a l’Orme terminal the other side of the Ile aux Tourtes bridge.

Six months ago, we were promised a hard start on Monday, Sept. 29. That came and went. A month ago, we learned a new soft date — Spring, 2026 — would coincide with a major overhaul of exotrain and shuttlebus service, with new routes and stops added to the network in anticipation of the opening of the regional hospital in Vaudreuil-Dorion.

For Vaudreuil-Soulanges residents and stakeholders desperate for better public transit, it’s typical of the failed undertakings from our provincial, regional and municipal governments, starting with the CAQ government’s promise of a light rail system on the new bridge.  

Example: with the bridge two years from its promised opening, the provincial transport ministry (MTQ) refuses to discuss dedicated lanes for shuttlebuses and school buses.  

Who to blame for this basket of bullshit? It’s nearly impossible to find out who is driving the bureaucratic bus. Is it exo? The MTQ? An MRC operational committee? Is the primary purpose to transport a labour force from Montreal to fill the region’s manpower shortage — or to offer off-island residents faster, more convenient public transit to the metropolis and the bus and metro network paid for by our taxes?  

Then there’s the awkward question of whether the opening of the new regional hospital nearing completion off Cité des Jeunes will be at the mercy of the impasse between the CAQ government and Quebec’s medical professionals. Earlier this year we learned the 404-bed facility won’t open by the end of 2026 as promised. In the best-case scenario cited by the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) the $2.6M project would open in the summer of 2027, six months after the regional health and social services agency (CISSSMO) was supposed to take delivery. In the worst case, it would not be operational before the fall of 2028.

It now appears the official handover has slipped to Winter, 2027; no date has been advanced for the start of operations.

Despite the sketchy SQI timeline, Quebec’s tighter immigration policies and a growing exodus of fed-up doctors and nurses, CISSMO maintains its optimism about being able to attract and keep staff — although at the expense of the greater healthcare network. Qualified immigrants are still welcome to apply. The Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC will readjust its master development plan as soon as the Montreal Metropolitan Community adopts densification changes to prod towns like Hudson to approve more affordable housing. 

If, if, if.