Posted at 9:45 p.m.
Lower taxes and Generations Fund
The former Finance Minister of the CAQ government, Eric Girard, defended the intention of the outgoing government to use part of the sums accumulated in the Generations Fund to reduce Quebecers’ taxes. “The main missions of the state are funded,” he argued, recalling that Quebecers are the most taxed taxpayers in North America.
“We don’t touch it,” argued the Liberal Party candidate in Marguerite-Bourgeoys, Fred Beauchemin, a former banker, like Eric Girard. “It’s the future of our children that is at stake.” According to him, the State must be there to support the population in the event of a storm, which is precisely the role of the Generations Fund.
The candidate of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Axel Lellouche, who is a financial advisor, pointed out that the performance of the Generations Fund was not up to par. “Me, with 5 billion, I will make better returns,” he said. His party is also proposing tax cuts and the elimination of certain taxes, including the sales tax on used cars.
Fight against climate change
The Conservative candidate, who is running in the Montreal riding of Robert-Baldwin, had to explain why his party does not propose any target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is unacceptable in the current context, denounced Vincent Marissal , Québec solidaire candidate in Rosemont.
“If we don’t have a target, it’s because all the governments that have set them have never respected them,” retorted Axel Lellouche. “We are eco-realists,” he says of his party, which is in favor of the Énergie Saguenay project to supply Europe with ethical gas and prevent it from reopening its coal mines.
Eric Girard repeated, for his part, that the project to export liquid natural gas from the Saguenay will not take place because Germany has an immediate need for energy and it would take “five, six or seven years” before this $14 billion investment is completed.
Immigration and aid to the regions
The lack of manpower is a glaring problem in the regions of Quebec, and another debate of the FCCQ will be entirely devoted to it shortly. The question still could not be avoided on Monday evening. Parti Québécois candidate in Pointe-aux-Trembles, trade unionist Jocelyn Desjardins stressed that his party wants to create a Ministry of Regions and he believes that Quebec does not have all the tools to properly welcome immigrants. “You will not make me say that I am against immigration, no one is against immigration in the PQ, but we have work to do on our economy,” he said.
Liberal Fred Beauchemin believes that welcoming new immigrants “is the best investment we can make”. He brushes aside the objections of those who say that Quebec is already sorely lacking in resources, in particular doctors, to serve its current population. “A doctor can treat 2500 patients”, he illustrated, so an immigrant represents less than 1% of the services.
For the party in power for four years, the priority remains the enrichment of Quebec, pleaded Eric Girard. “Quebec accounts for 23% of the Canadian population and only 20% of the country’s economy,” he said. We have a plan to change that. This plan involves increasing productivity (80%) and work (20%), which includes immigration, he explained.
For his part, the Conservative candidate did not talk about increasing the immigration thresholds, but rather argued that there are engineers who do cleaning in the evenings in buildings. “The manna we receive is not used,” said this Frenchman. “Arrived in Quebec 25 years ago, there is not a single day when I have not worked,” he assured.