QUEBEC – The Liberal budget in March was dubbed the “continuity budget” for its attempts to grow the economy while keeping a tight grip on expenditures and the same could be said for the Parti Quebecois budget just eight months later.
The PQ delivered an autumn budget that promised to balance the province’s deficit but its focus on reducing debt and lack of imagination left many uninspired.
According to Louise Chabot, the president of the CSQ (Centrale Syndicates du Quebec), one of the largest unions in the province, the budget leaves little in terms of funding for the development of social services.
She has accused the government of being too preoccupied with pleasing the opposition and not with imaginatively finding new revenue sources.
“We are disappointed,” she said. “Given the fact that the opposition is badly placed to overturn the budget and force another election, the government could have taken advantage of its position to put in place more progressive policies.”
Stephen Gordon, an economist at Laval University agrees. “The measures that they brought in are very minor,” he said.
“They really are following similar lines to the previous government and public spending is virtually the same. The difference is in the cuts.”
So why bring in a new budget at all?
It’s all about the deficit.
Debt is Quebec’s third largest expenditure after health and education.
Over the past nine years, Quebec’s deficit has increased by $54 billion to $1.6 billion – that’s an increase of $5,627 per person and a per capita debt of $22,981.
It’s also the highest provincial deficit in Canada.
The PQ says that this needs to change.
“The government’s good financial health creates a climate conducive to economic development,” said the Minister of Finances and the Economy, Nicolas Marceau.
“If the government is going to bring in austerity measures, then it’s better to start earlier rather than later,” said Gordon.
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