QUEBEC CITY – Cities in Quebec are worried the province is backtracking on a fiscal deal they signed last year.
Municipalities agreed to a cut in funding – in exchange, they were supposed to get more control over negotiations and working conditions for their employees, but it’s no longer clear if cities will get what they wanted.
Municipal Affairs Minister Martin Coiteux announced a new action plan for municipalities Wednesday that he said fulfills one of the promises made when the government signed the fiscal pact with cities in September 2015.
READ MORE: Tensions escalate between Quebec government and municipalities
Promises though, are made to be broken – and that’s exactly what one union boss is alleging after a recent meeting with the minister.
“During that meeting, four times he said he would not give the mayors the possibility to impose working conditions,” said Marc Ranger, SCFP-Quebec president.
At the time the pact was signed, the government called it a “new era for taxpayers.”
The intent was that cities could better manage their tax dollars if they had more power when it came to their employees, specifically, to impose working conditions if negotiations stalled.
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“For a year, they’ve been dangling promises in front of municipalities, but they’ve been unable to deliver the goods,” said Parti Québécois interim leader Sylvain Gaudreault.
“The government is backtracking on the second part of the agreement and at the end of the day, it’s the taxpayer that will pay for this,” said CAQ leader François Legault.
Municipalities agreed to give up millions in provincial funding, in exchange for more powers, but all parties agreed it might pose some legal problems.
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“When we analyze the best means, we have to look at different perspectives and certainly the legal perspective is one we have to look at,” Coiteux explained.
However, he insisted he would honour the terms of the pact and table a bill soon.