François Legault has already said it: independence would be “viable” for Quebec. But it would require financial “sacrifices” on the part of Quebecers, he said Tuesday.
The CAQ Prime Minister reacted for the first time, Tuesday afternoon, to the renewed year one budget tabled the day before by the Parti Québécois (PQ). The document, modeled on the methods of the year one budget produced in 2005 by Mr. Legault himself, concludes that Quebec would not only be “viable”, but “prosperous” the day after a winning referendum for the ” Yes “.
“An independent Quebec would be viable. But we must tell the truth to Quebecers,” replied François Legault to PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon on Tuesday. “We must tell them that there would be sacrifices to make in the current financial context. »
The portrait of the finances of a sovereign Quebec made public Monday by Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon provides for the elimination of $8.8 billion in overlap with the federal government in the first year. These calculations allow him to say that independence would be achieved “essentially at zero cost” from year one.
In the exercise he carried out 18 years ago, Mr. Legault calculated the overlaps with Ottawa at $1.9 billion. “Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon cannot say that there are overlaps of 8.8 billion that you can eliminate, then that it would have no impact on Quebecers,” maintained the Prime Minister.
If the PQ leader anticipates a smooth transition after a possible separation, Finance Minister Eric Girard sees years of disruption coming.
“It is certain that there would be a period of uncertainty, a period where the economy would be weaker. Quebec would be in debt,” he said. “It is certain that initially, if the currency does not have the same value as the Canadian dollar, […] it is a fall in the standard of living of Quebecers. »
Further details will follow.