(Quebec) Unlike Paul St-Pierre Plamondon who predicts an “economic leap” following the sovereignty of Quebec, François Legault affirms that the ascension of Quebec to the status of a country would lead to “sacrifices” for Quebecers, a difficult situation which could last for years.
The CAQ Prime Minister reacted Tuesday to the publication of the year 1 budget for a sovereign Quebec, unveiled Monday by the leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ). According to Mr. Legault, who himself published in 2005 an evaluation of the public finances of an independent Quebec, the transition from province to country “would be viable”.
“But we must tell Quebecers the truth. We must tell them that there would be sacrifices to make in the current financial context,” he said.
“It’s noble, it’s a beautiful project. The problem is that it is not the priority of Quebecers,” he added. Mr. Legault also spoke last week of job losses in Quebec following the achievement of independence.
Concretely, the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, believes that the independence of Quebec would have a direct impact on the standard of living of Quebecers.
It is certain that initially, if the currency does not have the same value as the Canadian dollar and there is turbulence and depreciation [dans les premières années]it is a fall in the standard of living of Quebecers.
the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard
According to the big financier of Quebec, a Quebec country would have a high level of debt “and its credit rating would probably be affected”.
“To claim that there would be 10 billion savings is a very strong hypothesis. A new state would have important responsibilities to assume. Before having savings, we would have to assume these new responsibilities,” added Mr. Girard.
When PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon predicted an “economic leap” following independence, the Minister of the Economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, attached little value to his hypothesis.
“I will answer one sentence: it is very naive to think that,” he said.
A “poorer” Quebec, says the PLQ
On the opposition side, the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), Marc Tanguay, considers the year 1 budget unveiled Monday “uncredible”.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The interim leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec, Marc Tanguay.
“The separation of Quebec is viable, but not desirable. Quebec would not be richer independent. Quebec would be poorer,” he said.
For his part, the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire (QS), Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, welcomed the approach taken by Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
“I think the Parti Québécois has done a good job. It’s a tool that is interesting for teaching independence,” he said.
The question of the ballot box
For the PQ, the question at the ballot box during the next provincial election, in 2026, will be the independence of Quebec.
Paul St-Pierre Plamondon reiterated Monday that he will propose to voters to organize a referendum on sovereignty in a first mandate – whether popular support for his option exceeds 50% of voting intentions or not.
“We are not on the question of winning conditions. […] The question is to prepare the ground on all fundamental aspects, to think, to have an intelligent conversation with Quebecers,” said new PQ MP Pascal Paradis on Tuesday.
In its year 1 budget, the Parti Québécois forecasts that a country of Quebec from 2027 would have a financial situation not only “very close to budgetary balance”, but that the abolition of a level of government would allow it to achieve “significant savings” which would improve its ability to offer better services to the population.
with Tommy Chouinard, The Press