Activists from the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) on Saturday rejected a proposal on the end of the monopoly of the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), a hypothesis which had already been rejected by the Minister of Finance, Éric Girard.
On the floor of the CAQ convention, one of the activists from the riding of Saint-Jérôme, behind the proposal, had the opportunity to put forward his arguments.
“Ending the monopoly does not mean excluding the SAQ from continuing in the market,” said Jean-Jacques Bourdages. Competition has always been a model of excellence. I think there is room for players to compete in the best interests of consumers. »
But opponents quickly got the upper hand, including an activist, also a wine columnist, who praised the diversity of products offered by the state-owned company.
While the proposal was based on arguments denouncing the sclerosing bureaucracy of the SAQ and its disproportionate profit margins which local producers bear the brunt of, an activist from Trois-Rivières expressed doubts.
“It’s not guaranteed that, because it’s private, it will solve the problems that are stated,” she said.
The proposal was later defeated in a show of hands.
Social responsibility
Two weeks ago, the Minister of Finance, Éric Girard, had already rejected the idea of ending the monopoly, emphasizing the importance of the income collected by the State, which receives 1.4 billion in dividends, not counting the tax receipts.
Saturday, before the debate on the proposal, which appeared in a notebook with 31 others, Mr. Girard had nevertheless affirmed that the question was important.
Mr. Girard maintained that the SAQ must maintain a monopoly on the sale of alcohol. In Ontario, the government has over-privatized the sale of cannabis and the place it has placed the private in the game raises questions about promoting this hobby responsibly, the minister said.
“We have debates in government and I’m more for private enterprise, less subsidies and lower taxes,” he said. In the case of alcohol, cannabis and gambling, the Quebec approach of having crown corporations that are socially responsible has proven to be superior to what is done in other provinces. »
The minister then explained that the impact of the end of the SAQ’s monopoly could be limited on state coffers, depending on how it was done.
The deputy for St-Jérôme, Youri Chassin, still had hope of being able to change the minister’s opinion on Saturday morning, a few hours before the proposal was finally defeated on the floor of the convention, during the afternoon.
“He said no before the debate, because that’s the position of the current government,” he said. After that, we will see what the activists will say and how they will vote. »
Right turn
The members of the CAQ also defeated on Saturday the proposal to allow right turns on red lights on the island of Montreal or that of instituting a tax credit for volunteers in “organizations and institutions recognized by the Government of Quebec “.
“A volunteer is someone who works with his heart” and not to pocket a gain, argued two activists during the plenary debate, before inviting the assembly to oppose the adoption of the resolution.
The members of the CAQ also voted against the proposal to provide “means and incentives to owner households to promote soft densification in urban areas”.
On the other hand, they notably urged the Legault government to “exempt overtime from tax in certain sectors of activity”, to which the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, immediately opposed an end of inadmissibility.
“In Quebec, we have a progressive tax: so the more income you have, the more tax you pay. So, this is the guideline that we apply, ”he argued in a press scrum.