Towards the Girard budget | Numerous requests, but empty coffers

Like every year, the Quebec Minister of Finance invited the population to help him make choices by participating in the pre-budget consultation. And like every year, many people responded to his invitation by submitting proposals. Here is an overview.

Tax gas and kilometers

Increasing the specific tax on gasoline is a suggestion that comes up more and more often on the desk of the Minister of Finance. It is in fact one of the lowest in OECD countries and has not been indexed for 11 years. The Alliance for the Financing of Collective Transport (Transit) is also suggesting it this year, with indexation based on the indexation of registration fees for individual cars. The sums thus generated could be redirected into financing public transportation, where the needs are immense. As gas tax revenues partly finance public transportation and will decline with the electrification of transportation, Transit also suggests a contribution from electric vehicles in the form of a tax on miles traveled.

Technology to be tax-free

Luxury retailer SSENSE and grocery chain Metro are fighting the same battle. The two companies are opposed to the servers and other electronic equipment that they have installed in their warehouses being taxed by cities as a property value in the same way as the buildings that house them. This is a breach in the Municipal Taxation Act into which the City of Montreal has fallen, denounces SSENSE, and which doubles or triples the taxes of its automated distribution center built at a cost of 80 million dollars. Metro is protesting for the same reason against the City of Terrebonne which adds the value of the technology of its new distribution center, i.e. 135 million, to the property value of the building. Property taxes could rise by $3 million per year, according to Metro.

Restaurants that want to stay afloat

Weakened by the pandemic and the surge in inflation that followed, Quebec restaurateurs are asking for help from the government to stay afloat. They are once again calling for the restoration of 50% to 100% of the meal expense deduction for businesses. They also want to modernize, with equipment that would replace part of the workforce that is increasingly difficult to find. Like a smart industrial oven, an innovation marketed under the name iCombo Pro makes it possible to program, plan and manage the cooking of menu dishes. Since this equipment costs more than $20,000, the Association Restauration Québec is requesting a subsidy that would cover 50% of the cost of modernization projects, such as the purchase of such an oven.

The rising costs of the funeral ritual

The death benefit paid by the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) to all Quebecers has not been increased for 26 years. At $2,500, it today covers only a third of the cost of funeral services, whereas it reimbursed 70% in 1997, according to the Corporation of Thanatologists of Quebec, which believes that the time has come to increase this payment. The average cost of a traditional funeral ritual varies between $4,000 and $8,300, according to the group of thanatologists, which estimates that the QPP is in good enough health to easily increase the death benefit to some $6,000 and to provide for indexation. annual of this sum.

Help with pedaling

The purchase of electric cars is generously subsidized by the State, why not give a boost to electric bikes as is done elsewhere in the world? Vélo Québec’s proposal to the Minister of Finance is as follows: granting a subsidy of $800 for the purchase of an electrically assisted bicycle and $2,000 for the purchase of an electric cargo bike could make the purchase of a second car for numerous daily utility trips. This assistance could vary depending on income. This is the case in British Columbia, where assistance for the purchase of an electric bicycle, of $1,400 for a net income of less than $39,000, is reduced in stages up to $350 for an income net of $51,000 and more.

Transport by coach

Intercity bus transport is disappearing in Quebec, deplores the Quebec Tourism Industry Alliance, whose members would like to attract more visitors with this mode of transport. While the government works to improve regional air service, coach transport companies are in a critical state, warns the industry brief submitted to the Minister of Finance. He cites a study which establishes that the number of weekly urban coach departures increased from more than 6,000 per week to 882 between 1981 and 2023. The tourism industry believes that improving coach transport is essential to increase access to the regions and that coach carriers must be financially supported for journeys that can connect the regions.