QUEBEC CITY — “I refuse to be intimidated.” Longueuil Mayor Caroline St-Hilaire said Thursday she believed Quebec’s Municipal Affairs Minister had gone too far.
Her counterpart from Laval, Marc Demers, agreed: “The minister’s attitude and comments are undemocratic,” he said.
Longueuil and Laval are raising taxes by about three per cent this year. They blame it on the fiscal pact signed with Quebec that cancelled $300 million in transfer payments.
READ MORE: Quebec tells Longueuil and Laval to reverse planned tax hike
Municipal Affairs Minister Pierre Moreau said Wednesday he thought the two mayors were treating their taxpayers like “morons.” He said the two cities have large surpluses:$17.5 million in Longueuil and $117 million in Laval.
“The effort that is asked within the fiscal agreement is within the capacity of the municipalities to pay without increasing their taxes,” he said.
Moreau insisted it is greedy of Longueuil and Laval to ask citizens to pay more, when they could easily dip into their rainy-day funds. He threatened to pull their provincial transfers if they didn’t back down.
His arguments fell on deaf ears.
The Union of Quebec Municipalities accused Moreau of “trampling on democracy.”
The Parti Quebecois added that the minister has no business telling cities what to do.
“I think Mr. Moreau has lost all credibility,” said PQ Interim Leader Stéphane Bédard.
Opposition parties asked that the premier get involved to rebuild bridges with municipalities.
“If he really wants municipalities to make some efficiency gains, he should give them the tools to do so,” said Coalition Avenir Quebec leader François Legault.
Moreau also piloted the explosive pension reform bill this fall, which may have caused the arrest of a Montreal police officer. He allegedly said that he would “personally settle things with the minister.”
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