Few regretted the departure of Martin Coiteux when he announced that he would not seek a second term in 2018. Even though he held the position of President of the Treasury Board for less than two years, public opinion always saw him as the evil genius who had inspired his austerity policies.
While all the opposition parties, including the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), did not hesitate to loudly denounce the budget cuts he had imposed, the CAQ MNA for La Peltrie, Éric Caire, nevertheless praised his “desire to change things.” According to him, Mr. Coiteux had simply “not chosen the right vehicle to do so.” He felt that the CAQ would have been “a natural family for him.”
Mr. Coiteux believed, on the contrary, that it was the CAQ that had a problem. “Mr. Legault should be at the end of his chair applauding us for having the courage to take all the steps to straighten out public finances, he should be with us on this,” he said.
It is true that the CAQ leader seemed to have suddenly forgotten his own calls for greater budgetary rigour and a “major clean-up” of the state apparatus. At that time, Youri Chassin should have suspected that his management principles were variable geometry.
In any case, after squandering the $7 billion surplus that the Liberals had left it with tax cuts, the CAQ government is now using the same euphemisms that Mr. Coiteux and his colleagues used to avoid calling a spade a spade. Ultimately, Éric Caire was right: there is a family resemblance.
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The message that was conveyed to the CAQ members, as reported by Radio-Canada, seems desperately familiar. From now on, we will have to “live within our means” and “question the way things are done.” Not to mention the need to “remove a layer of bureaucracy.”
Of course, there is no question of “austerity” or cuts in services, but simply of a slowdown in the growth of expenditure. The problem is that the growth of needs is not slowing down. On the contrary, it has an unfortunate tendency to accelerate.
One can understand the nervousness of the CAQ members, many of whom owe their entry into politics to Liberal austerity. While their re-election seems uncertain, they are now being asked to announce to their constituents that certain projects that have already been announced in their ridings will be put on hold for an indefinite period.
They must learn to think “macro,” they were told. Their voters will be more grateful for improved health and education services than for the implementation of a local project.
But this improvement must be there and the population must start to notice it by the next general election. The two years that separate us from that are likely to pass very quickly. A local project is easier to get off the ground.
MPs are also being asked to submit their recommendations for cutting red tape and scaling back regulations. How many reports on the subject are piling up on shelves under a thick layer of dust?
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The benefits of public finances in health are easy to demonstrate, even if there will never be enough money to meet all needs. Bernard Landry spoke of the “green valleys” that awaited Quebecers after achieving a zero deficit.
Martin Coiteux spoke rather of a pleasant “cruise, once calm has returned.”
But the storm still has to be weathered. “It is certain that the recovery is making waves, which can make those who are sailing short-sightedly seasick,” Mr. Coiteux would say, with a certain condescension for those who did not have sufficiently strong nerves, whom Jean Chrétien described as ” nervous nellies ».
Mr. Coiteux’s stint was more of an interlude than a new career. He believed in the need to clean up the finances and he got the job done, regardless of the political cost to his government and his party.
However, not all have the same detachment. It has now been six years since the Quebec Liberal Party has been expiating the austerity of the Couillard government, and there is no guarantee that this purgatory is over.
The comparison with the current situation has its limits. There is probably no need to form human chains around schools to protest against cuts, but it is preferable to avoid unnecessary provocations. Inviting the population to tighten its belt at a time when the Los Angeles Kings are about to take a little trip to Quebec City at taxpayers’ expense is a very unfortunate coincidence.