To hear François Legault, the proposals of Québec solidaire (QS) on the fortunes of the well-off are overwhelming the middle class. I wanted to dig into it a bit.
Posted yesterday at 11:00 a.m.
Let’s take a closer look at the proposals that are the most talked about. Québec solidaire proposes to tax individual fortunes more. Remember this word: individual. Five percent of our fellow citizens will pay more tax because their personal net worth is over $1 million. For one person ! A couple who hold 1 million in net assets — the house and the chalet are paid for, the car too — would pay no additional tax since they could divide their assets in two.
Also remember this: the median net worth in Quebec is $237,000 for a household. Not an individual, a household. Which often means: two people. We are really far from the individual million!
Could I remind you that, while some politicians and commentators are getting very excited about this additional wealth tax (perhaps they are concerned!), 10% of our fellow citizens currently live in a great poverty. They do not have the means to lodge and feed themselves properly. Do we realize that this debate on large fortunes must seem rather surreal to them?
One last figure on fortunes: in Quebec, the richest 20% of the population owns 500 times the fortune, and therefore the net assets, of the poorest 20%. It would not be there, the real scandal?
I therefore suggest that opponents of Québec solidaire exercise restraint in their analyses. Nobody wants to put anyone in misery. In fact, it is quite the opposite that QS proposes, it seems to me: to ask our fellow citizens who have the means to do so to contribute more to social progress.
“It’s only fair,” a friend directly affected by this new tax told me. “Thanks to the progressive measures put in place in Quebec, I was able to move up the social ladder. I come from a modest background and was able to go to university because of relatively low tuition fees, compared to the rest of America. Today I have a great job and good income. I can give more to the state so that others have the same opportunities as me. »
I know my friend isn’t the only one thinking this way. Let’s remember the outraged reactions of several well-heeled personalities who couldn’t get over receiving the famous $500 check from François Legault last spring. Several have publicly indicated that they will donate it to community organizations.
There is generosity in Quebec. Why not build on this rather than fall head over heels for the only party that dares to offer to really share the wealth?
Another issue caught our attention: QS proposes to overtax highly polluting vehicles, except those used for certain work-related purposes or by large families. Mr. Legault tells us that we will no longer be able to buy a Toyota Camry. Horror ! (By the way, four of the six Camry models will not be overtaxed…)
My position: we will have to decide. Either climate change does not represent a serious threat to our quality of life, in the city or in the region. Or it is the greatest threat ever to us, our children and our grandchildren. The science has spoken: climate change is threatening our cities and countryside, as well as the people who live there. Attention: on this subject too, we are not all equal! The effects of these changes are always more damaging for low- and middle-income individuals and families.
The population demands collective measures, serious and rigorous government commitments. Sure. But how can we avoid our personal responsibility in the struggle to ensure livable environments for our descendants? Transportation contributes 43% to greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec. It is serious ! And therefore, overtaxing vehicles that produce a lot of it is a way of putting us, as they say: “the eyes in front of the holes”.
We are now forced to ask ourselves: “Do I really need this very polluting vehicle – for work or the children – or am I giving in to a fashion effect… which is costing me a lot of money?” » Even without a surcharge!
Let’s not forget that the surcharge is not applied to used cars and that QS proposes to reduce the amount necessary for the purchase of an electric car by 15%. Interesting, right?
In short, the middle class is almost unaffected by the proposals of solidarity. Contrary to what the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) claims in an offensive that I would describe as dubious: multiply ORANGE signs and leaflets, therefore in the colors of Québec solidaire, to better denounce the proposals of this party. If each party had to borrow the color of another to better demonize it… welcome to the cacophony on the already cluttered poles of our neighborhoods!
Could it be that the CAQ is panicking because proposals that aim to better share wealth meet with much more support than it had expected? Could it be that many Quebecers — and not just young people — recognize that our collective future depends on a resolute fight against climate change and daily mobilization to significantly reduce social inequalities?