When the Quebec government announced a $2.2-billion surplus last October, it promised to reinvest some of it in education.
However, by the end of March, only some of what was promised has been doled out.
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“They say they’re putting money in education, but in fact, they just don’t use it,” said Alexandre Cloutier, Parti Québécois (PQ) education critic.
The opposition said the government is playing a political game, purposely delaying funds they promised would go into education.
The PQ argued the Liberals want to appear like they’re reinvesting, while not actually spending the money.
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“Often they wait so long, late in March that the commission scolaire just doesn’t have the latitude to invest in our children,” said Cloutier.
The Fédération des cégeps says funding delays are actually quite common and if the money doesn’t get used by the end of the school year, administrators are usually not allowed to use it the next year.
“Then you know what happens? Then we have to declare a surplus. It’s not a real surplus,” said Bernard Tremblay, the federation’s director general.
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“The money that was budgeted for health and education and other areas is going to be spent in health, education and other areas,” said Finance Minister Carlos Leitao.
The finance minister denied his government is sitting on a surplus.
He insisted all the money promised during the economic update will be fully transferred by the time the government tables its new budget next week.
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“The way the government machinery works is things were announced as they were in the mise-à-jour in October and it takes some time for the money to start getting out the door,” Leitao said.
On its website, the Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec (FCSQ) said last time, in 2015, that didn’t happen until a few weeks before the end of the school year.
It also came with conditions.
The federation said it has discussed these challenges with the minister and hope he will make appropriate fixes to ensure money earmarked for education actually gets there.