The Coalition avenir Québec estimates the cost of its election promises at nearly 30 billion dollars over four years, including some 21 billion for the deployment of the four measures of its “anti-inflation shield”.
François Legault on Saturday invited voters to “calculate” on the CAQ website the amount they will receive from the Quebec government if his political party is re-elected on October 3. ” You can not miss it [le calculateur]he’s on the front page,” he noted during a stop on his campaign bus in the riding of Saint-Jérôme.
Five days before the first televised face-to-face between the leaders, Mr. Legault unveiled the “prudent”, “responsible”, “credible” and “balanced” financial framework on which a next CAQ government would be based. next four years. He was accompanied for the occasion by Eric Girard, candidate in Groulx and Minister of Finance, and Geneviève Guilbault, candidate in Louis-Hébert and Deputy Prime Minister. The candidate in Saint-Jérôme and deputy, Youri Chassin, — who has “worked to reduce bureaucracy” over the past four years, according to the premier — was not far behind.
According to François Legault, “Currently, the main concern of Quebeckers — all members of Parliament have seen this on the ground — is inflation, the increase in groceries, the price of gas, then, more recently , interest rates, especially among seniors with small pensions.
The “anti-inflation shield” is not free. The one percentage point reduction in the first two tax brackets, starting in 2023, alone will deprive the Generations Fund of $7.4 billion between 2022-2023 and 2026-2027. For its part, the “one-time amounts” of $400 and $600 granted to the 6.4 million taxpayers who had an income of less than $100,000 will strain public finances by more than $3.5 billion. The increase in financial assistance offered to low-income seniors from $411 to $2,000 will cost nearly $7.9 billion over 4 years. Finally, the CAQ would deprive the Quebec state of revenue of nearly $2.2 billion by capping the increase in government tariffs at 3% during inflationary surges.
New “room for manoeuvre” expected
The Quebec State will finance the CAQ’s electoral commitments from, in particular, additional budgetary “room for manoeuvre” of $9 billion due to economic growth (additional revenue of $3 billion) and “program review” (additional savings of $4 billion).
“I want to be clear: we are talking about program spending of $150 billion in 2026-2027 and [d’une] revision of programs of 1.5 billion, therefore 1%. So it’s just good practice. Each year, there are programs that are used less than others, ”put Mr. Girard into perspective, who was brought to the head of the Ministry of Finance in the fall of 2018.
“There is still a lot of work to do [pour réduire la bureaucratie] “said Mr. Legault for his part.
However, the CAQ does not foresee a return to a balanced budget before fiscal year 2027-2028. “We set ourselves a five-year objective to achieve a balanced budget,” said Mr. Legault at a press conference.
That said, the ratio of net debt to gross domestic product (GDP) will gradually decrease under the leadership of the caquistes, from 38% to 35.9% from 2022 to 2026. “We are the ones who reduce the most debt as a percentage of GDP. It is important because this debt, we leave it to our children, ”said Mr. Legault after reading the “reckless” financial executives of the Quebec Liberal Party and “disconnected” from Quebec solidaire. “Now is not the time to play cowboy with Quebecers’ money. Money doesn’t grow on trees,” said the head of the CAQ.
The CAQ’s financial framework takes into account the “uncertain global context” caused by the war in Ukraine, the jump in interest rates and the level of inflation. It therefore provides for a provision for economic risks and other support and recovery measures of 8 billion, in addition to a Contingency Fund of 2 billion, indicated in turn Mr. Legault and Mr. Girard.
The CAQ promises to “provide adequate funding for all services to citizens” starting in health and education and higher education where it “improves [rait] investments” of 4.5% and 3.5% respectively. “Education remains the top priority for the CAQ,” said Mr. Legault, before addressing the themes of the environment and culture.
QPP benefit leave
In addition, Eric Girard confirmed on Saturday that a future government of the CAQ will give a holiday from contributions to the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) to workers aged 65 and over who wish to do so. He sees it as one more measure to counter the labor shortage.
More details will follow…