After five Opération Escargot slow-downs and the “Day of the Wolf,” Transport Minister Boulet met with Opération Escargot representatives on June 4, 2009. They made their requests, principally including a moratorium on the increase of motorcycle registration fees in 2010. It was agreed during the meeting that the Minister would give them an answer in the days that followed. Other than confirming that a moratorium would be impossible, no response was made to the seven other requests, other than Mr. Harbour would address those points at a meeting scheduled for June 18 with the Coalition Moto. The coalition is comprised of the FMQ (the Quebec Motorcycle Association), the CAPM (the Committee for Motorcycle Political Action) and Promocycle.

On June 18, Mr. Harbour took care to invite Mr. Éric Lessard, spokesperson for Opération Escargot, to breakfast. Mr. Harbour then delivered a monologue in which he explained that it was illegal for the SAAQ not to impose the planned increases in registration fees.

During the SAAQ meeting with the Coalition Moto, and where the Opération Escargot representative was admitted as an observer, the same points were brought up and strongly deconstructed by the members of the Coalition. The moratorium represents a 16 million dollar loss in a 2.6 billion dollar budget, or 0.6%! Despite the arguments presented, Mr. Harbour concluded that it would be illegal for him to change the planned increases in registration fees, the motorcycle classification process or the training procedures before 2011.

Faced with the SAAQ’s preclusion, Opération Escargot representative Éric Lessard ended the meeting with these words:

“In conclusion, it has now become clear to me that:

- Escargot did everything in its power to enable a constructive approach to find a solution for this case.

- Despite five non-violent, respectful messages, neither the SAAQ nor the government is interested in genuinely listening to the citizens.

- Despite the acceptance in good faith of the SAAQ’s and the Minister’s invitation, the dialogue remains one-sided.

- By attempting to invite Escargot nearer the seat of power you are attempting to quash the movement.

IT IS CRYSTAL CLEAR THAT ESCARGOT WILL NOW BECOME BIGGER THAN EVER AND THAT AS OF NOW WE WILL RALLY LIKE NEVER BEFORE AND TAKE NUMEROUS ACTIONS ACROSS THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC UNTIL A MORATORIUM IS ANNOUNCED.”

To find out when the next slow-down is scheduled visit: http://www.operationescargot.info/nouvelles/