QUEBEC CITY – Quebec’s politicians are back at the legislature for the spring session.
The first question period featured exchanges on the cost of daycare and accusations that the government has broken promises.
A collective groan from the opposition cut off Minister of Families Sébastien Proulx mid-sentence.
He had been asked about the impact on the average Quebec family since the Liberal government indexed the cost of daycare, basing the daily rate on a family’s income.
“They will still be paying by far much less than other provinces, in Ontario particularly. They will still be paying a really small percentage of the real cost,” said Premier Philippe Couillard.
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Couillard said 60 per cent of Quebec families will still pay less than $9 a day, but the opposition Parti Québécois questioned his math.
“I’m not believing all that Premier Couillard is saying because he’s been saying a lot of things. He said taxes will not rise,” said PQ Leader, Pierre Karl Péladeau.
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Meanwhile, the Coalition Avenir Québec has launched a campaign to draw attention to what it says is a broken election promise.
Line 434 was added to the Quebec income tax form to determine how much more parents will have to pay for daycare.
“Mr. Couillard is saying ‘I’m balancing the budget, I made hard and tough choices, decreasing some expenses’ — it’s not true. He took most of this money from the pockets of Quebecers,” said CAQ leader François Legault.
The problem, Legault said, is that Quebec needs to kickstart its economy by lowering taxes, not raising them.
He would like to see the government lower income taxes as well, but the Premier insisted having a sliding scale for the cost of daycare isn’t something he invented.
It happens all over the world because it’s the “right way to do it.”
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