The CAQ member for Saint-Jérôme, Youri Chassin, is calling on his own party to “pull itself together,” believing that François Legault’s government has applied “the old recipe of throwing money at problems” rather than trying to do things differently.
In an open letter published Thursday morning in The Montreal Journal And The Quebec JournalMr. Chassin argues that despite a sharp increase in spending, which led to an $11 billion deficit in the last budget, public services appear more fragile.
“Whether we’re talking about education, housing, emergencies, courts, daycare and so on, some of the most heavily taxed citizens in North America are struggling to receive services when they need them,” he says.
“Despite this, citizens are not seeing the results, neither for places in daycare services, nor for obtaining an official document, nor for the expansion and modernization project of the Saint-Jérôme regional hospital which is progressing at a snail’s pace.”
Mr. Chassin deplores that rather than reducing bureaucracy, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government has spent at “unprecedented magnitudes”, creating several new public bodies.
In his opinion, “that’s not what the CAQ is.”
“The CAQ must regain its determination and courage from before the pandemic. It must focus on its commitments that will get us out of the ruts of the past,” he maintains.
Youri Chassin, known for being on the right, has been the member for Saint-Jérôme since the CAQ came to power in 2018. He is an economist by training.
Following the 2022 election, he admitted to being “disappointed” not to have been appointed minister, but he chose to fall into line, saying he was “proud” to be part of the CAQ team.