Even if he does not plan to call the elections before the end of August, the Premier and leader of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), François Legault, believes that he is acting in a “fair” manner by already announcing a commitment of 1.8 billion dollars, since the date of the elections is known to all parties.
Updated yesterday at 11:27 p.m.
“I think it’s fair for everyone, because everyone knows it’s October 3,” said Mr. Legault at a press conference on Friday.
His party had published a press release the day before inviting the media to the “first electoral commitment of the Coalition avenir Québec”.
“If the CAQ is returned to power on October 3, we are committed to building 11,700 social and affordable housing units in the next term,” said Mr. Legault on Friday, surrounded by his six candidates from the Laval region.
The CAQ also promises to extend the Rent Supplement Program to 7,200 additional dwellings. It estimates the total cost of the two measures at 1.8 billion, including more than 1.7 billion for housing to be built.
Mr. Legault made the announcement in a reception hall at Château Laval, an establishment that advertises itself on its website as “a luxurious place”.
The costs of this event, like those of the advertisements broadcast this summer, will not be counted in the election expenses, which are capped by law.
This is perhaps the defect in the quality of fixed-date elections: we cannot say that governments take advantage of the surprise effect, everyone knows that the election is on October 3, so obviously, there is a pre-campaign.
François Legault, Premier of Quebec
He confirmed his intention to go see the lieutenant-governor at the end of the month to dissolve the National Assembly and call the general elections.
“It will be at the end of August. Now, the exact date, we will tell you when it is finally fixed. »
” A preoccupation ”
The fact that no rules apply to pre-campaign spending is “a concern,” Quebec Chief Electoral Officer Pierre Reid said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press. It would be necessary to “rethink” and “update the Elections Act” and “provide a maximum amount” of advertising expenses in the pre-election period, suggested Mr. Reid.
The Prime Minister said he was “open to discussions”, while wondering about the period.
“If we say [que] it’s a month before, will there be advertising two months before, three months before? There is always a pre-election campaign. »
It is “not only the CAQ” which engages in pre-election announcements, pleaded Mr. Legault, stressing that “all political parties announce their candidates” and that some have already published their platform.
Too early for tax cuts
On the subject of possible tax cuts, which the Liberal Party of Dominique Anglade and the Conservative Party of Éric Duhaime have already promised, the head of the CAQ judges however that it is “too early” to move forward.
“We still have about 50 days until October 3, so I will have the opportunity to answer this question, but I am open,” he said on Friday.
23,500 homes missing, according to Legault
There will be a shortage of 23,500 social and affordable housing units within 10 years, said François Legault, citing estimates from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The CAQ is committed to meeting nearly half of this need within a four-year term.
A “wet firecracker”, denounced Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesperson for Quebec solidaire.
François Legault “was not even able to keep his promise of the last election”, and it is rather “37,000 people who are on the waiting list”, said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois in a press release.
Since the 2018 elections, 15,000 social and affordable housing units have been “funded” and are “either built or in the process of being built”, argued Mr. Legault. He also called for caution with waiting lists “because there are duplicates”.
The 11,700 housing units are planned “in quite a few regions of Quebec”, underlined the head of the CAQ. If the announcement was made in Laval, it is in particular because his training hopes to “make gains there”.
Of the six CAQ candidates in Laval, only that of Sainte-Rose, Christopher Skeete, is currently a deputy. Four other ridings (Mille-Îles, Vimont, Fabre and Laval-des-Rapides) are held by the Liberal Party. The sixth, Chomedey, is represented by independent MP Guy Ouellette, who was elected under the banner of the PLQ in the 2018 general election.
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- 2027
- Time when the shortage of so-called “regular” housing (not intended for low-income people) should have resolved itself, in particular because of the record number of building permits currently issued.
Source: Ministry of Finance, quoted by Prime Minister François Legault