The real influence of governments on certain issues is often limited, especially in the short term. In these cases, all they have to do is do their best now and adopt the right strategies for the longer term. A task, according to some, which the Legault government could have done better with its mini-budget.
It was agreed – at least in business circles – that this economic and financial update from the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, should largely focus, Thursday, on the two major economic issues of the hour, that is – that is, the recent surge in inflation and the scarcity of labor. They were not wrong, a good part of the some 13 billion in new investments presented officially aimed at “countering the scarcity of labor” and “helping Quebecers to face the cost of living”. “Thirteen billion dollars is huge. It is more of the size of a budget than of a simple economic update ”, observed in a telephone interview at To have to the CEO of the Institut du Québec, Mia Homsy. “But we are still a little disappointed, especially in the time it takes for certain ideas to gain ground,” she added.
The cost of living
When it comes to inflation, no one could ask the Legault government to really solve a problem that essentially stems from factors that go beyond the borders of Quebec and Canada. He can do nothing against the effect of the pandemic and the crisis on global supply chains, gasoline prices or even the sudden urge of households to leave cities and their inner suburbs to find larger ones elsewhere. houses surrounded by land where they could telecommute.
Like Ottawa and the Bank of Canada, Quebec believes that the sharp increase in the price of many goods and services is a transitory phenomenon that will eventually subside over the next year. In the meantime, he is offering, among other things, an “exceptional benefit” of a few hundred dollars next year to 3.3 million low- and middle-income Quebecers, in addition to increasing the value of the checks he sends to clients. elders.
On the real estate front, he promises the construction of around 2,200 new affordable housing units and hopes that the market will eventually adapt its supply to demand. Since it takes time to build houses, we will have to be content, by then, with an increase in financial assistance programs for the payment of rents.
Like the Trudeau government, Quebec presents the creation of 37,000 new subsidized child care spaces by spring 2025 as a way to improve the economic situation of households. In the meantime, tax credits for non-subsidized childcare services will be improved.
The scarcity of labor
Improving the supply of childcare services can also be seen as a way to help more people participate in the labor market and reduce the problem of labor scarcity. Again, one cannot expect a government to reverse demographic trends overnight, but neither can it pretend it has not seen the consequences of such a phenomenon coming. slow and manifest as the aging of its population.
“A real brake on economic recovery”, itself at the heart of François Legault’s ambitions to catch up with the wealth gap with Ontario, the scarcity of labor is “the main issue for businesses. Québécoises, ”the Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce (FCCQ) repeated on Wednesday. However, the Girard minibudget will not have been the “real boost” we needed, she said the next day.
Everyone agrees that there is no “single solution or magic recipe” in the matter, said the Institute of Quebec last week in yet another report on the subject. A phenomenon of this magnitude requires time and several distinct problems to be tackled simultaneously. This must include education, lifelong vocational training, the integration of all available workers, immigration and increased productivity.
Disappointed
In his minibudget, Eric Girard still devotes almost 3 billion to the problem. The bulk of this amount goes to measures aimed at training, re-qualifying and attracting nearly 170,000 workers in five areas within five years: health and social services, education, childcare services, engineering and technologies as well as construction. Another 350 million is to go to innovation and investment in business.
” How? ‘Or’ What ?! Are we not here ?! Exclaimed Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters with amazement. “What about tourism, and transport, and retail? »Asked the FCCQ in turn. So much more could have been done to expand the pool of available workers, noted the Conseil du patronat. And what about the increase in immigration thresholds that the business community is clamoring for?
Mia Homsy is delighted, for her part, that we are interested in the training of students and the retention of older workers, but she would have liked us to pay more attention to the mass of employed workers and to their need for continuous training in the company. She is delighted to hear the government talk a little less about job creation and a little more about better developing the workers we have. “It’s slowly changing, but we’re not there yet. “