The proposal of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) to “attack the Generations Fund” to finance the tax reduction “stinks” of the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, he claimed on Tuesday.
“We are being divided between the older people and the young people by saying: ‘We are going to get the money from the young people and we are going to give it to the elderly so that they can vote for the CAQ'”, launched Mr. Duhaime, passing through Trois-Rivières at the Shaker restaurant. In the crowded room, the “Freedom” and “Bye bye Legault” rocketed from all sides during his speech.
The Conservative leader accuses the CAQs of wanting to increase intergenerational “inequity” by drawing on the Generations Fund. The latter was created in 2006 to reduce the debt burden in Quebec.
On Monday, the CAQ promised from 2023 to reduce the rates of the first two tax brackets by 1 percentage point, until the end of a possible second term. In the longer term, the objective would be to reduce them by 2.5 points over 10 years.
In order to finance this tax cut, the caquists would draw on the payments provided for in the Generations Fund. The sum would be 2 billion dollars per year from 2023 to 2026, and would increase to 5 billion per year from 2032.
However, on August 19, the CAQ promised not to touch the Generations Fund, Radio-Canada reported on Tuesday. “What happened in 10 days for the CAQ to change its mind? asked Mr. Duhaime.
Earlier Tuesday, the Conservative bus visited two residents of Trois-Rivières. The political formation is hopeful of making gains in Mauricie. In the kitchen of Véronique Tousignant and Philippe Brodeur, the leader of the PCQ engaged in a “pedagogical exercise” by explaining the tax cuts proposed by the party using a whiteboard.
Of all the political parties, these are the “most generous” reductions, then hammered Éric Duhaime, in a press briefing. He proposes to lower the rates of the first two tax brackets by 2 percentage points. As of 2022, the tax exemption threshold would increase from $16,143 to $20,000.
No financial framework revealed for the moment
In order to finance this tax cut, the PCQ is counting on the exploitation of gas and oil in Quebec and on reducing the size of the state. The party also undertakes to cut subsidies to businesses.
Asked how much these measures would yield, Éric Duhaime replied that he would present the financial framework in the coming weeks, in time for the first leaders’ debate on September 15.
“I’m going to save myself some ammunition so I can continue to explain our program and carry on a kind of striptease,” he said.
With Marco Bélair-Cirino and Clémence Pavic