As Bruno Marchand does not have a majority on the Quebec city council, the fate of the 2023 Quebec budget could well be in the hands of the two independent councilors Jean-François Gosselin and Bianca Dussault.
The municipal council of Quebec has 22 elected officials, namely the mayor and 21 municipal councillors. For the budget to be voted on, 12 elected officials must accept it. Let’s check the forces in place:
- Quebec strong and proud (QFF) has 10 elected officials (the mayor and nine municipal councillors). It is reasonable to believe, without being too mistaken, that these 10 will vote in favor of the budget.
- Québec d’abord has seven members elected to the municipal council. Until now, the opposition has blown hot and cold and has not clearly indicated its intentions. The leader of Quebec First, Claude Villeneuve, on Wednesday lamented the lack of transparency in the budget documents due to the fact that the fixed assets program sheets are less detailed than in the past, which makes follow-up more difficult. Asked if this situation could jeopardize his party’s support for the budget, he said he could not say at this time. He added: “It is sure that next Thursday, it will be hard for us to support a budget on which we have the impression that we do not have all the information to form a responsible idea. Now, I can’t tell you at this stage which way it’s going to go, because the exercise is continuing”.
- Québec 21 has two municipal councillors. The latter have already announced their colors by saying that they will vote against the budget if ever the fund for the fight against climate change is maintained. As Mayor Marchand insisted on the importance of this fund, it is reasonable to think that Éric Ralph Mercier and Stevens Mélançon will probably vote against the budget.
- Jackie Smith, leader of Transition Québec, is the only elected member of her party. Last year, she voted in favor of the 2022 budget. But she has not yet announced her intentions this year. For several months, his relations with the mayor’s team have been significantly strained.
- Thursday morning, the two independent councilors, Jean-François Gosselin and Bianca Dussault, told the Journal that they would wait until the end of the plenary committees before specifying whether they will approve the budget or not.
Upcoming negotiations?
Assuming that Quebec first, Quebec 21 and Transition Quebec will vote against the 2023 budget, the mayor’s team would therefore need the support of the two independent councilors to have it voted on.
Committees of the Whole, where budgets are considered service by service, are due to continue until next Wednesday, December 7. No date for the vote on the budget has been officially set, but it is customary for the vote to take place the day after the last Committee of the Whole, which is Thursday, December 8 for this year.
One thing is certain, the government of Quebec obliges the Municipalities to vote their budget before December 31st. This could therefore announce negotiations between the elected municipal officials of Quebec for the whole month of December.
– With the collaboration of Stéphanie Martin