Inflation wreaks havoc whether a person earns $30,000 or $90,000 a year, believes Premier François Legault, who defended himself on Wednesday from offering a $500 tax credit to the wealthiest like to the most deprived.
“Too often, we forget the middle class,” he said Wednesday morning during a press scrum. It is not true that people who earn more than $40,000 or $50,000 a year have not been affected by inflation. »
The 2022-23 Quebec Budget tabled Tuesday provides for one-time payments to 6.4 million Quebecers whose annual salary reaches no more than $105,000. According to the elected caquiste, the opposition groups are on the wrong track by asserting that it should have proceeded in a more targeted manner.
“It’s rare that we see rents, groceries, gasoline increase so significantly. […] Whether it’s a nurse who earns $85,000, a teacher or an MP, I think these people have been affected, ”raised Mr. Legault.
According to the Parti Québécois, wealthier households, for whom the government’s $500 is perhaps less useful, should donate it to charity. PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he finds it “indecent” to pay “more than a billion to groups that have no difficulty making ends meet, while others are struggling to find a roof “.
By staggering the tax credits and setting the upper threshold at $70,000 for a single person, Quebec could free up $1.4 billion for “home care, [les] places for our toddlers in CPE, [la] housing crisis”, calculated Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
The leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Dominique Anglade, would have prioritized targeted but recurring measures. “What we said was: we are going to target populations that are more vulnerable and more in need, for example, our seniors. $2,000 for people over 70, non-taxable. Same thing for families who do not have access to childcare today, and who are losing money: $1,700 per month for a period of six months,” she reiterated on Wednesday.
Payments to MPs too
Solidarity elected representative Ruba Ghazal believes that a good part of the deputies will have access to the compensation paid by the government, but she “does not [a] no need “.
The caquiste member of Maskinongé, Simon Allaire, feels he is a victim of inflation. “Like everyone else,” he said when accosted by the press in the corridors of parliament. “The impact is different” than that experienced by low-income families, he said, but “there is also an impact”.
François Legault advocates free choice in the checks promised to Quebecers in Tuesday’s budget. “I hope that all people help organizations that are in need,” he commented. Now, it is up to each Quebecer to decide what to do with that money. »