Although the official launch has not yet been done, we have felt for a few weeks that the electoral fever in Quebec is already well established.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
A campaign is rarely a time when nuance triumphs, especially when it comes to sensitive topics that polarize the population. Let’s still choose to be optimistic and let’s hope, for the health of our democracy, a constructive and above all ambitious exchange on our economic and social challenges and opportunities.
For entrepreneurs, the campaign begins in a paradoxical context. On the one hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness of the importance of buying local and building resilient supply chains. On the other hand, this crisis, combined with the war in Ukraine, has precisely undermined this supply, pushed up prices and weakened businesses here. The future of our companies is intrinsically linked to the political game, our society is made that way.
Recommendations
The challenges are therefore numerous and the expectations high for the candidates who will compete this fall. The Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec (FCCQ) and its network of chambers of commerce have proposed 22 recommendations to support our entrepreneurs and we want them to be an integral part of the electoral platforms of the various parties. They are the diversified mirror of what worries or stimulates the business base in Quebec: labor shortages, transportation, cybersecurity, green transition, access to public markets, valorization of health data and regional economic development, not to mention name only these.
There is what we want, but also what we don’t want in the next government. This means, for example, not embarking on an escalation of new regulations, when our economy already has to deal with higher standards than those of our main economic partners. In the midst of inflation, it would be ill-advised to want to increase the burden on our businesses even more, as each restriction necessarily has a cost.
Let’s be driven by a healthy obsession with wanting to make Quebec a land that stimulates and encourages our entrepreneurs to succeed here and elsewhere.
Economic circles want this election to talk extensively about social and community issues as well as economic and financial issues. There is so much to do to unleash our full economic potential by improving, among other things, the overall quality of life of citizens. It is in our collective interest to meet the needs for rental housing, educational childcare services and regional air transport. We must create living environments (in our major centers and in the regions) that allow people to plan and dream of their long-term professional and personal future throughout Quebec.
Public service is not the easiest job in town, I salute the courage and vision of all those who choose this winding road. Let’s not forget that an election campaign is a special moment that hundreds of millions of people would like to experience once in their lives. Let’s be proud to share our ideas in the coming weeks and do it with respect, intelligence and audacity!