Quebec parliamentary session ends with Liberals accused of ‘betraying’ middle class

QUEBEC CITY — The Liberal government pushed the envelope this fall because, the Premier said, it had to.

“Not making those decisions would have been irresponsible,” said Philippe Couillard on the last day of the autumn parliamentary session.

The Liberals hit municipal workers with a pension reform and parents, with higher daycare fees.

They introduced controversial changes to healthcare governance and cut access to in vitro fertilization programs.

There were numerous union and austerity protests in Montreal and Quebec City.

Still the Liberals are convinced they’re on the right path, promising healthy public finances and lower income taxes as early as 2017.

“Each time I feel a little bit stressed by what we do, I think about my children and my children’s children,” Couillard said.

“I know it’s tough, I know people find it tough, we hear it, we see it, I see it, I feel it too but we need to do it.”

Opponents accused the Liberals of betraying the province’s middle class and hurting the economy.

“Since April 1, we’ve lost in Quebec 53,000 full-time jobs and, during the same period in the rest of Canada, 107,000 jobs were created,” said François Legault, leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).

As the two parties disputed numbers this fall, over at the Parti Québécois, there was a distraction called Pierre Karl Péladeau.

Péladeau was found Friday to have contravened to the National Assembly’s code of ethics when he lobbied twice for his company, Quebecor.

He blamed the mistake on his biking accident.

“I had quite a big bike accident during May and when I came back I was certainly not in the best shape,” he said.

The media mogul’s double status is set to be the subject of a Laval University committee study, with a report expected to be released after the leadership race in May.

Until then, the Liberals promise more changes.

“I am quite keen on coming back next session and going forward and implementing what I have put on the table,” said Health Minister Gaétan Barrette.

“Believe me, I don’t intend to step back.”