(Quebec) 35-hour week, one month of vacation for all workers, minimum wage of $ 18 an hour: Quebec solidaire (QS) activists will adopt an electoral platform at the end of the week to broaden their electoral base and coalesce citizens who do not identify with the CAQ, says Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
“The objective of this platform is to unite Quebeckers who do not identify with François Legault, in his project for Quebec. […] We want to create the largest possible coalition in the next year to face François Legault. This is the fundamental objective, ”says the parliamentary leader of QS in an interview with Press.
The militants of the left party are meeting in congress this weekend to adopt their electoral platform in anticipation of the general elections of October 2022. And in the sights of Quebec solidaire, there is only one opponent: the Future Coalition Quebec.
In terms of ideas and vision for Quebec, the party that stands in sharpest contrast to the CAQ is Quebec solidaire. Since the start of the parliamentary session, this is more evident than ever.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire
The party has learned lessons from the last election. He now wishes to propose “precise and concrete” commitments which will “respond to the problems that people experience on a daily basis”. The party also wants to “reach out to other generations”. “QS has significant support among young people, we are proud of it, but that will not be enough if we want to make gains,” recognizes Mr. Nadeau-Dubois. With concrete proposals for families and seniors, the activists believe they can “create an intergenerational alliance”.
“People work too much in Quebec”
While François Legault says no to an additional public holiday so as not to harm Quebec’s productivity, and his government wants a not too large increase in the minimum wage, QS is proposing the opposite. Its activists want a reform of labor standards to give 10 paid holidays to all employees, a minimum of four weeks of vacation per year as well as one public holiday per month, if this proposal is accepted by the members. And they would gradually introduce the 35-hour week. Québec solidaire would also commit to raising the minimum wage to $ 18 an hour “as soon as it comes to power”.
“People work too much in Quebec, they don’t spend enough time with their families, it has an impact on the well-being of children, it has an impact on mental health, and it’s bad for productivity”, said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
For the elderly, they will propose a “public and universal pension plan” which provides for a “minimum pension” to take into account “unpaid work which is carried out mainly by women”.
They also want to increase home support services and offer to subsidize the development of intergenerational homes and the transformation of residences to adapt them to the functional limitations of their occupants.
The question of systemic racism
Another head-on collision with the vision of the CAQ: François Legault does not believe that there is systemic racism in Quebec. QS will instead propose to “set up a Commission of Inquiry into Systemic Racism and [d’]apply its recommendations ”to“ recognize the reality of racism in Quebec society ”.
Quebec has evolved on this issue since the death of Joyce [Echaquan], since the mobilizations of recent years across North America on police violence, discrimination and racism in Quebec. Quebeckers are a people mature enough to know that we have challenges and that this does not amount to putting the whole of Quebec society on trial.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire
To promote living together, it will also be proposed to support “the development of educational content on egalitarian relations and the contributions of various communities to Quebec society” and to ensure a “fair presentation of the ‘history and contemporary realities of indigenous peoples in collaboration with them’.
However, the party echoes the “pride” that François Legault wants to instill with his Blue Spaces, a new network of museums. QS wants to make “the promotion of our culture and the training of the public a national priority” by making compulsory four cultural activities per year for all elementary, secondary and CEGEP students and wants to make Télé-Québec a broadcaster. national content. The activists also want to create a “SEPAQ-heritage” in order to acquire heritage buildings to transform them into tourist establishments or cultural centers, for example.
Québec solidaire has not quantified the elements that will constitute its electoral platform adopted at the congress this weekend, but its financial framework will be ready for the 2022 elections, specified Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.