The three opposition parties said Tuesday that the Quebec government was missing its target by sending anti-inflation checks of $400 to $600 also to certain MPs or people with a high family income.
This is a “waste of public funds”, lamented Joël Arseneau, PQ MP for the Îles-de-la-Madeleine, in a press briefing. In a context of inflation, the measures must be “much more targeted” towards the vulnerable, he added.
The government assistance that is currently distributed amounts to $600 for Quebecers who have earned $50,000 or less and $400 for those who declared an income between $54,000 and $100,000 in 2021. For this year, the he basic annual allowance for MNAs in Quebec was $95,704.
The elected Ruba Ghazal and Michelle Setlakwe, respectively of Quebec solidaire (QS) and the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), are among those who received a check. They both decided to donate it to organizations working for food security. “I just got $400 from the government,” Ms.me Ghazal on Twitter on Sunday. As an MP, did I really need it? »
Mme Setlakwe said he was “frankly shocking to see the government miss the mark” after receiving $600. “Is it so complicated to take family income into account? ! she tweeted last Monday.
The elected Liberal is eligible for this amount because she earned less than $50,000 last year as a municipal councilor for the Town of Mount Royal. However, her husband, Michael Fortier, is a banker and a former Conservative minister.
The interim leader of the PLQ, Marc Tanguay, welcomed the gesture of the member for Mont-Royal-Outremont. He said he wants to let other caucus members decide what to do with their respective payments.
Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Manon Massé argued that giving to community organizations, as Ruba Ghazal did, was in the “DNA” of elected party officials.
Quebecers eligible for the sums paid by the government “are free to use this support as they see fit, for example by offering it to charities”, wrote Claudia Loupret, press attaché to the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard. .
“75% of those who will receive an amount earn less than $54,000 a year,” she added. We trust Quebecers to use the one-time amount according to their needs. »
Giving “more” to those who earn less
Mr. Tanguay affirmed that “members of the National Assembly do not need to have a check for $400, $500, $600”. “I would have preferred more to be given to those who earn less. »
According to Joël Arseneau, elected officials who give their checks to organizations do so to “ridicule and criticize a government gesture that is without common sense” in the context where many families use food banks.
If checks are essential for many people, the measure “is poorly targeted”, also estimated Manon Massé. “In my case, I don’t need it. I would prefer that we put that money to make sure that homeless people […] have what it takes to be able to sleep in a heated place throughout Quebec this winter. »