(Quebec) The Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) had to table a new financial framework on Wednesday after revelations from The Press on a multi-billion dollar hole. The party recognizes its error but ensures that it maintains all its electoral commitments.
Posted at 3:26 p.m.
Updated at 4:03 p.m.
“The calculation of the debt is complex and probably it was done a little too quickly. I concede it. But we are not the only ones to make adjustments, ”said in Quebec the person in charge of the financial framework at the PLQ, Carlos Leitão.
The correction made by the Liberals ultimately amounts to $16.3 billion, an amount that will increase Quebec’s estimated debt by the same amount in 2027.
The PLQ had to modify its figures after the publication of a column by Francis Vailles published Wednesday morning. The Party underestimated Quebec’s gross debt by $12 billion at the end of a Liberal mandate. The party has also decided to add to its financial framework, as the columnist pointed out, expenses related to COVID-19 of 2.8 billion.
The former Liberal financial framework, presented at the start of the campaign, estimated the debt at 240.6 billion at the end of a mandate. The new framework now puts it at 256.9 billion.
The great liberal financier defended himself by noting that they had put their efforts “on the calculation of commitments”. “We made sure to calculate the cost of our measures properly,” he says. When calculating the debt, “probably we were too fast,” he added.
My credibility would be at stake if I had ignored the journalists, if I had said “but no” when talking to Francis Vailles about The Press. I don’t hide. These things happen. I don’t have 35 officials to help me do that, we are two people.
Carlos Leitão, Campaign Chair of the Liberal Party of Quebec and former Minister of Finance
This error of good faith does not change strictly the liberal commitments, hammered Mr. Leitão. The expenses are maintained, as are the promises. The Liberal Party promises, in particular, to fight against inflation, to put $5,000 back in the pockets of families with its “portfolio” plan.
Outgoing MP Marc Tanguay accused the other parties of having also changed their financial frameworks.
“On August 10, the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, who also apparently has a reputation for credibility, said that he had, in his last budget last March, understated several billion inflation. So we see that we don’t have a monopoly on the corrections to be made to financial executives. »
Carlos Leitão insists: despite the changes of some 16 billion, the liberal financial framework remains responsible.
“Despite these adjustments, the debt/GDP ratio decreases from 2022 to 2027. The deficits that we project are all in all modest, around 1% of GDP, he insists. All of that, we will continue to make full payments to the Generations Fund. We don’t touch that, unlike other political parties. »