(Ottawa) Since coming to power in 2015, the Trudeau government has largely drawn inspiration from Quebec to expand the social safety net across the country.
As an illustration, the Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland, often cited Quebec’s daycare program as a model to follow when she announced in her 2021 budget the creation of a national early childhood services program , which should ultimately cost $10 on average per day. Since its implementation, this measure has enabled some 300,000 women to enter the job market.
Quebec also serves as an example in the area of drug insurance, a measure that could be extended to the rest of the country and which is part of the agreement that the New Democratic Party (NDP) concluded with Justin Trudeau and which ensures the political survival of the minority Liberal government in the Commons until June 2025. The NDP recently demanded that a bill to lay the foundations for such a program be tabled before the holiday break.
Quebec was also the inspiration for Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan when he tabled an anti-scab bill last week – a bill he drafted in consultation with New York MP Quebec Democrat Alexandre Boulerice.
Housing crisis
Known for defending its powers tooth and nail in the face of Ottawa’s desire to invade its areas of jurisdiction, Quebec is now inspiring other provinces who have difficulty seeing the Trudeau government deal directly with the municipalities on their territory to tackle the housing crisis.
Last year, the federal government established the Fund to Accelerate Housing Construction, with a budget of four billion dollars. In August, federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser began reaching agreements with cities to provide them with financial assistance to build affordable housing more quickly. Agreements have notably been concluded with cities like London, Hamilton, Vaughan, Halifax and Calgary, among others, using the good old spending power of the federal government.
But in the case of Quebec, Ottawa had to reach an agreement with the Legault government which allowed the province to obtain a sum of 900 million dollars to tackle the housing crisis. As part of this agreement, Quebec decided to match the stake by also putting in $900 million.
During the Council of the Federation meeting last week in Halifax, the premiers literally put their fist on the table. They asked the Trudeau government to stop acting as if the provinces did not exist.
They called on Ottawa to put an end to the practice of concluding funding agreements with municipalities. The Premier of Quebec, François Legault, was unable to participate in the meeting due to a scheduling conflict. The Minister responsible for Canadian Relations, Jean-François Roberge, represented Quebec at the meeting.
In their final communiqué, the premiers expressed their intention to follow in the footsteps of Quebec, which long ago adopted a law that prevents municipalities on its territory from concluding agreements directly with Ottawa.
“Provinces and territories must be treated as partners in infrastructure and housing programs. The premiers agreed to look into legislative frameworks similar to that in force in Quebec, which requires government authorization before a municipality or public body can enter into any agreement whatsoever with the federal government. we read in the final press release.
The Prime Minister of Ontario, Doug Ford, and his counterpart from Alberta, Danielle Smith, subsequently did not hesitate to sharply criticize in front of the cameras this new trend towards the centralization of powers in Ottawa.
PHOTO CHRISTOPHER KATSAROV, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Ontario Premier Doug Ford
We cannot let the federal government come to a certain city or municipality and hand over a check without even discussing it with the province. This is unacceptable. We call this a misuse of jurisdiction.
Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
Mr. Ford has so far proven to be an objective ally of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals on several issues.
“We need equity, and that is not the case with the current model,” said Danielle Smith.
“The fund works”
Minister Sean Fraser was unimpressed by this salvo from the provinces. “I have no desire to slow down when it comes to building housing during a housing crisis,” replied the minister. He later pointed out that the acceleration fund had already convinced cities to reform their zoning laws and “increase their ambitions” in terms of housing construction.
“The fund is working, and it’s working more effectively than I think most people expected. When we have a tool that proves to be an effective way to build more housing, there is no good argument, in my opinion, for not using that tool. »
In the past, the federal government was able to use its spending power to interfere in the areas of jurisdiction of the provinces by concluding agreements with them, except Quebec, which demanded a right of withdrawal with full compensation.
By pushing the envelope further by negotiating agreements directly with municipalities, Ottawa has awakened a sense of autonomy among several provinces. In this regard, Quebec is undoubtedly the model that inspires provincial leaders.