The CAQ’s promises | Held or broken?

The Legault government has fully realized 56% of its promises and 24% partially, while it has broken 20%, conclude the experts from the Polimètre of Laval University, who monitor electoral commitments. This is a result similar to that of the Couillard government, which did not have to manage a pandemic. Overview.

Tommy Chouinard
The Press

Health promises

Completed

• Health expenditures have increased by more than 4.1% per year.
• The CAQ has invested more than promised in home care, but the waiting list has grown.
• The seniors’ homes are being delivered, but at a much higher cost than expected.
• The legal age to consume cannabis has been raised to 21.
• Hospital parking fees have been capped at $10 per day.
• Quebec has restored free for an in vitro fertilization cycle.

Partially completed

• After promising to cut a billion dollars a year in the remuneration of medical specialists, François Legault has concluded an agreement which represents savings well below his commitment.

broken

• Not all Quebecers have access to a family doctor – approximately 800,000 people are still on the waiting list.
• The maximum time limit of 36 hours to consult a doctor was not respected.
• The government has not reduced the average wait time to see a doctor in the emergency room to 90 minutes.
• It did not abolish “compulsory overtime” (TSO) and did not review the patient-to-nurse ratio.

Education and child care promises

Completed

• School elections have been abolished and school boards have been transformed into school service centers – except in the Anglophone network, where it is the status quo.
• Quebec has launched a school renovation project as planned, but the maintenance deficit of the school building stock has swelled over the years.
• Quebec increased the salaries of teachers at the start of their careers.
• A law has been passed to create a National Student Ombudsman.

Partially completed

• The government has created part of the 2,600 classes needed to offer 4-year-old kindergarten to all (about 1,600).

broken

• Quebec has not set a floor for professional services in schools.
• The waiting list for obtaining a place in daycare has not been “significantly” reduced. There are nearly 52,000 children on this list, compared to 42,000 in 2018.

Promises in Finance and Economics

Completed

• Thanks in part to the $8 billion surplus left by the Liberals, the government reduced the school tax by $600 million faster than expected with the introduction of a single rate.
• Family allowances have been increased by $800 million.
• The government implemented a reform of Investissement Québec, developed the electric transport sector and began to create innovation zones.

broken

• With the increase in the standard for nickel in the air, it has not respected its commitment to responsible exploitation of mining resources.

Identity promises and nationalism

Completed

• With Bill 96, a position of French language commissioner was created and the mandate of the Office québécois de la langue française was strengthened. Bill 101 will apply to federally chartered businesses, such as banks, airlines and telecommunications companies.
• The government banned the wearing of religious symbols by state agents with coercive power (police, prison guards, judges and crown prosecutors) and teachers.

Partially completed

• It reduced the number of new arrivals from 50,000 to 40,000, but for only one year.
• He imposed on newcomers a less restrictive test of Quebec values ​​than promised.

broken

• In its relations with Ottawa, the Legault government did not obtain the creation of a single tax return or additional powers in immigration and culture.

Governance promises

Achieved

• The appointments of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, the head of the Sûreté du Québec and the head of the Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit (UPAC) are now made with the support of two-thirds of the deputies of the National Assembly rather than be the sole prerogative of the government.

broken

• The voting system has not been reformed.
• There has not been the adoption of a parliamentary reform setting up a mechanism of free votes and obliging the study of a predetermined number of opposition bills in the National Assembly.
• The number of civil servants in the ministries has increased by nearly 4,000 while the CAQ had promised to reduce administrative positions by 5,000.

Environmental promises

Completed

• Quebec has entered into a hydroelectricity export contract with the State of New York.
• A law has been adopted to put an end to the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, which goes further than its commitment.

broken

• International targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have not been met.

Promises for municipalities and transportation

Completed

• Quebec ceded a share of QST revenues to municipalities.
• A fund for the preservation of religious heritage has been created.

Partially achieved

• Quebec gave the green light to the extension of the blue line of the Montreal metro last spring.
• The “REM de l’Est”, which is now managed by the government and the City rather than by the Caisse de depot et placement, is currently being revised.
• Quebec is in the process of making high-speed Internet accessible throughout the region.

broken

• The third Québec-Lévis link has not been started.