Target of group fire, Quebec solidaire promises that agricultural land will not be hit with an additional tax, contrary to what the left party had said the day before.
Parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois denied having corrected the situation before an event organized by the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) on Wednesday afternoon. “An information transfer error” explains that the contrary information was transmitted to journalists the day before. “We had known for a long time that we were going to the UPA tomorrow, I didn’t find out the day before. »
During a press scrum on Tuesday, solidarity candidates Simon Tremblay-Pepin (Pointe-aux-Trembles) and Mathieu Perron-Dufour (Hull) were questioned by journalists on the issue. They had replied that farmers were generally heavily in debt to finance their business, which meant that the threshold of $1 million in net worth was rarely reached.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois corrected the situation on Wednesday. “What we are exempting is really agricultural land because it is an essential activity to feed Quebec. Do not add obstacles to agricultural succession. »
Group shots against “orange taxes”
Earlier Wednesday, several parties fired red balls at the Québec solidaire tax plan, which they believe will harm Quebec farmers.
The left-wing party announced on Tuesday that it would impose an additional tax on citizens with net assets of $1 million to $10 million, as well as an estate tax of more than $1 million.
“I felt some concern with the orange taxes that apply to anyone with assets over $1 million. We know that agricultural land is very expensive, so there is a lot of concern, ”said the head of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), François Legault, on Wednesday after leaving a meeting with representatives of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA) in Longueuil.
“Me, when I look at this plan, I’m not sure that they consulted many people in the agricultural world,” added the outgoing Minister of Agriculture, André Lamontagne.
Earlier in the day, Liberal leader Dominique Anglade had also criticized QS for attacking agricultural succession.
Passing through Saint-Jacques-le-Mineur, in Montérégie, she pointed out that the combine harvester parked right behind her was worth a million dollars. A farmer’s land and machinery easily exceed $1 million, yet farmers lead a difficult existence, she says.
“These people have worked all their lives to give something to their children, she pleaded. When parents have worked all their lives and have decided to transfer their assets, even a house, to their children, no, I don’t think we should tax them. »
At his side, his candidate in Huntingdon, Jean-Claude Poissant, himself a farmer, went one better.
“You have to look at the whole company: there have been sacrifices from generation to generation. Before saying that a person is rich, you have to think about the past of a company. »
For its part, the Parti Québécois accused QS of putting forward a “counterproductive” proposal.
“In my opinion, this will cause more problems than it will provide solutions,” said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in Carleton-sur-Mer.
“It will become more logical to sell to foreign investment firms than to inherit agricultural land. »
On Wednesday and Thursday, all party leaders must meet the leaders of the Union of Agricultural Producers (UPA), as is tradition in the election campaign.
With the collaboration of Patrice Bergeron and Caroline Plante