Quebec budget: Opposition slams CAQ ‘incompetence’

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QUEBEC — Opposition parties on Tuesday chided Finance Minister Eric Girard for overseeing what could be the highest deficit in Quebec history, and for failing to announce measures to deal with issues such as the housing crisis.

Quebec Liberal Party

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The previous Liberal government left a $7-billion surplus when it lost power in 2018, Liberal finance critic Frédéric Beauchemin told reporters.

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“Now, the deficit is $11 billion. That’s an $18-billion gap in six years,” he said.

“It’s terrible management. … The (Coalition Avenir Québec government) has lost control of public finances (and) has no recovery plan.”

Taxpayers will pay the price for CAQ mismanagement that included issuing “electoralist cheques” to taxpayers and giving the Los Angeles Kings up to $7 million to play in Quebec City, Beauchemin added.

Québec solidaire

Haroun Bouazzi, finance critic for Québec solidaire, said the budget was practically silent on housing, despite polls showing it’s a key concern among Quebecers.

“There’s nothing new to (encourage) construction, nothing changes for first-time buyers and nothing will be spent this year to deliver more social and affordable housing,” Bouazzi said.

In addition, Girard did nothing to improve public transit and home care for seniors, and failed to invest in climate change mitigation, Québec solidaire said.

Bouazzi also offered some praise for the government. He said the decision to increase pensions for some seniors with disabilities was long overdue, arguing his party has been fighting for it for years.

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Parti Québécois

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon blamed Quebec’s sticky financial situation on the CAQ government, saying it spent in a “cavalier” fashion and misjudged the economic situation when it cut taxes in last year’s budget.

Under Premier François Legault, Quebec has also been unable to retrieve the billions Quebec is due from the federal government on health and funding for asylum seekers, St-Pierre Plamondon said.

Like Québec solidaire, the PQ welcomed the pension change for seniors. “We can only rejoice at the end of a great injustice that deprived disabled seniors of their share in the Quebec pension plan,” St-Pierre Plamondon said.

He described Girard’s latest budget as “difficult” but “not catastrophic.”

St-Pierre Plamondon reserved the “catastrophic” label for Ottawa’s finances. Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the federal debt and the size of the federal civil service have exploded, he said.

Conservative Party of Quebec

Éric Duhaime, leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, said Girard “lost control of expenses” after relying on overly optimistic projections in last year’s budget.

“Future generations will have to pay the price,” he said.

Expenses are rising at almost twice the rate of the rise in revenue, Duhaime noted.

“It’s an incompetent budget,” he said.

ariga@postmedia.com

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