(Ottawa) Do people “don’t care” about the quarrels between Ottawa and the provinces over areas of jurisdiction, as Justin Trudeau said when announcing a new measure on housing? Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet does not deny it. But that does not justify Ottawa playing in Quebec’s borders, he judges.
“Citizens don’t care which level of government is responsible for what. They just want their rent to be affordable, for their groceries not to cost too much, for their children to be in a good situation to be able to succeed,” Prime Minister Trudeau said on Thursday.
The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, agrees with this analysis: “He is right. When I go to the dentist, I don’t understand everything he does. People who are mechanics or forestry contractors, they are not interested in the details of the Constitution or budgetary appropriations.”
“People will say: ‘If it’s a check, I’ll take it,’” he continues in a telephone interview, while hypothesizing that Quebec voters don’t necessarily care, because they “have an attachment to the Quebec nation.”
And according to him, “the current unpopularity of the Quebec government” gives Justin Trudeau the opportunity to “step on Quebec’s skills”, because “when the government of [François Legault] pranced around with 60% satisfaction, Mr. Trudeau would never have dared to do that.”
By doing “that”, the Prime Minister is violating the Constitution, he judges: “It’s extraordinarily cynical. The two key words are fiscal imbalance. He [Justin Trudeau] says: “I have twice as much money as the rest of you, citizens don’t understand the nuances of jurisdiction that much, so I’m going to keep the confusion going.”
The Bloc Québécois will vote, he says, against any intrusion into Quebec’s areas of jurisdiction. So, there is no need to wait for the official filing of the financial year on April 16 to get an idea. His party has seen enough since the start of the Liberal pre-budget blitz.
“That’s clear, we are going to vote against this budget, which is built on the backs of Quebec,” he says.
The minority Liberal government does not need the support of the Bloc or the Conservatives to stay in power. The agreement of support and trust sealed a little over two years ago with the New Democratic Party ensures their survival.