(Quebec) The Legault government has so far achieved 11% of its 150 electoral promises, according to the Polimeter, an independent initiative of the Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) at Laval University.
On the other hand, 88% of the promises of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) are either partially fulfilled, in the process of being fulfilled or on hold, while 1% have been broken, estimate the experts of the Polimètre.
“After about eight months in power, the CAQ broke a promise: that concerning the third link in the Capitale-Nationale region,” said CAPP director general Lisa Birch in a press release.
The CAQ government has indeed abandoned its flagship promise to build a third highway link between Quebec and Lévis last April, to the amazement of some of its own deputies.
Referring in particular to new data on traffic, Prime Minister François Legault refused to apologize for having broken this promise which he had nevertheless defended for almost 10 years.
According to the analysis of M.me Birch, the CAQ has begun its second mandate by placing the environment, the shift to a green economy and the means of alleviating the shortage of qualified labor at the center of its priorities.
It is the promises related to the “anti-inflation shield” that have been realized the fastest at the start of this mandate, she indicated.
Upon re-election, the Legault government effectively paid Quebecers checks of $400 to $600 to counter inflation, and lowered the first two tax brackets.
He also quickly passed a bill that limits rate increases for government services to 3%.
“Compared to its first mandate, the CAQ government seems to be moving faster towards the fulfillment of its electoral promises,” said Alexandre Fortier-Chouinard, researcher at CAPP.
“Among other things, there are a fairly large number of partially fulfilled promises. However, the number of pledges has decreased substantially: from 251 for the first term (2018-2022) to 150 for the current term,” he added.
The Polimeter team undertakes to regularly update the results on its website.
Over the next four years, each pledge will be categorized as ‘fulfilled’, ‘partially fulfilled’, ‘on track’, ‘outstanding’ or ‘broken’.
Each verdict will be supported by a quote from credible sources, such as government press releases, laws and other official or journalistic sources, the statement read.