Lined with good news to start 2024

When drawing up our wish list, just before Christmas, we took the opportunity to ask: “And you, dear readers, what gift would you like to receive from your elected officials? » Nearly 150 of you wrote to us, between a bite of tourtière and a sugar cream, to tell us your wishes for 2024.

Above all, what you ask of our politicians is transparency and courage. You want them to stop “acting like kids by bickering in the National Assembly” (Roger) and “that they collaborate with each other, whatever their allegiance, to maximize the well-being of citizens” ( Richard). You want “honesty, fewer empty words and a vision that goes beyond four years” (Valérie).

But many of you are also calling for “a little positivism and hope from journalists” (Michèle), because after all, “we don’t live in a gulag in Quebec” (Jacques).

We agree on that! And at the start of the year, there is no shortage of good news. As proof, our first wish for 2024 has already been fulfilled.

At the top of our list, we requested a collective agreement for the Quebec public service^⁠1. Generous agreements in principle have now been reached with almost all the unions. What excellent news to see the children finally return to class! (No cell phone, bonus.)

Yes, there will be some catching up to do, especially for students in difficulty, a challenge that the Minister of Education Bernard Drainville takes seriously with his 300 million plan presented on Tuesday.

But you know what ? The academic results of Quebec students are among the best in the world, according to international tests (PISA). This gratifying observation, which testifies to the good work of our teachers, deserves to be highlighted in broad terms, as they return to school, after a long and painful conflict.

Obviously, these agreements will have a cost. Our colleague Vincent Brousseau-Pouliot put the excess bill at at least 3.5 billion per year, compared to what the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) had planned in its last budget.^⁠2.

This seriously compromises the promise of returning to a balanced budget within five years. Especially since the CAQ has already almost completely emptied the safety cushion of 6.5 billion that the government kept for the next five years. And that the Quebec economy has fallen into technical recession.

But let’s look at the positive side: Quebec households are in good shape. It seems hard to believe when we see the prices at the grocery store, but their purchasing power has improved since 2019, in the vast majority of cases studied by the Research Chair in Taxation and Public Finance^⁠3.

And 2024 looks good.

The indexation of government benefits which is calculated based on inflation over the last year will ensure that household losses linked to inflation will be overcompensated. The increase is 4.4% for QPP pensions and 5.08% for family allowance, social assistance and tax table thresholds, while inflation has fallen to 3.4%. in Quebec.

Oh yes, and taxpayers will have a nice surprise when they file their tax return. They will recover half of the tax reduction granted by the CAQ for the whole of 2023, since withholding taxes were only adjusted from 1^er July. This could result in a refund of up to $407 in the spring.

All this will provide a good dose of oxygen.

And while we’re on the good news, let’s point out that pension plans have pulled their heads above water, having been in crisis over the last decade.

Remember the retirees from Nortel Networks or Sears Canada who had their pensions cut because their employer went bankrupt while their pension fund was in the red.

Thanks to the rise in interest rates and the good performance of stock markets, the Mercer index which measures the solvency of Canadian pension plans rose to 116% at the end of 2023, after having sunk to 70% in 2009 .

That too is reassuring.

In this context, the CAQ will not need to take out its checkbook to help all households. That’s good, because finances are tight in Quebec.

The CAQ will have to manage the province like a good father or mother. “As my grandmother said, before you can afford frivolities, you have to have the money to eat!” ” (Claudette).

In short, soup before dessert. Financing shelters before hockey games.

Hats off, ladies!

Allow one last piece of good news. “We have a new situation in Quebec where all organizations helping entrepreneurs are run by women” (Jean-René).

Indeed, Bicha Ngo was appointed head of Investissement Québec last December, while women already head the Fonds FTQ, Fondaction, the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada.

Hat ! Strong role models are needed to encourage women to go into business, pursue careers in finance and climb to the top ranks in all sectors.