We have recently been able to see again how the government is failing in its duty to represent and bring together all citizens, preferring to divide and satisfy particular interests to the detriment of the common good.
First, the Minister of Finance reiterated his government’s commitment to granting tax cuts in the upcoming budget. This decision was used as an election slogan on government posters during the by-election taking place in the riding of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne. This is a short-sighted decision that will certainly please citizens concerned about seeing their tax burden reduced, but that demonstrates a lack of consideration with regard to the many issues that our public services are facing and will face in the coming years.
The means chosen to achieve this, namely reducing the payments to the Generations Fund, moreover makes the costs of this measure rest on future generations, and will mainly benefit the most affluent, in addition to being unfair. It makes no sense to reduce state revenues when our public network is cracking up in all of its major missions: dilapidated schools without air exchangers, a crumbling health and social services system, damaged roads, services to indigenous First Nations and Inuit, etc.
The State must mobilize all the resources at its disposal to catch up, and not reduce its room for maneuver in order to buy votes at the expense of our public services.
Then we can see the diversion that the government wants to create by its many statements regarding the process of renegotiation of collective agreements in the public sector. The Prime Minister raised what, in his view, would be closure on the part of unions who do not wish to participate in the discussion forums set up for the renewal of collective agreements.
First of all, it should be noted that we are currently witnessing a common front bringing together unions from the health and education sectors, namely the CSN, the FTQ, the APTS and the CSQ, which bring together more than 420,000 workers and workers. Rather than welcoming this movement and initiating a real reflection on our public services, the government has instead decided to use a diversionary tactic by creating, in parallel with the negotiation table provided for by law, discussion forums in which he would tackle HIS priorities.
So we have an “Education” forum which concerns only teachers, a “Health” forum which concerns only nurses and a “Mental health” forum which concerns only psychologists, whereas they are much more than these three professions that work in the education, health and mental health sectors.
The government is thus trying to split the common front by setting aside thousands of workers who do not occupy one of these jobs, but who devote themselves tirelessly to the success of our public services. A government which, with a limited vision of public services, therefore favors certain professions to the detriment of the whole.
In the aftermath of the elections that gave the Coalition avenir Québec 90 MNAs, it is very worrying to see them using diversionary tactics rather than trying to unite the entire Quebec nation.
While Quebec has always been able to count on a strong public network, it is essential to see civil society come together and support each other in the face of these useless tactics on the part of the government, which wants to undermine our collective Quebec model.