A loud and angry protest met the premier in Trois Rivieres Saturday.

Philippe Couillard, elected Liberal MNAs gathered with hundreds of Liberal party members there for the party's first national council since winning a majority in April.

“Right now, our members are angry and upset. If they think the mobilization is going to slow down, they’re wrong,” said union leader Marc Ranger.

Despite pressure from a few hundred protesters outside, the government said it will not back down and intends to deliver a balanced budget to Quebecers.

“Our credit card is full. Our capacity to adequately respond to the needs of Quebecers is slim. Escaping or trying to ignore the reality is not an option,” said Couillard.

The premier reiterated his message as union members demonstrated against Bill 3, on the municipal pension reform plans, outside the convention centre.

Many Sûreté du Québec officers, assisted by municipal police officers in Trois-Rivières - wearing the red hat in protest against Bill 3 - were mobilized at the event to ensure safety.

The return to a balanced budget, expected next year, will not happen smoothly, admitted Couillard, but he said “the majority of Quebecers” understand the need to reorganize public finances.

“We have to reestablish budget balance and we have to maintain that budget balance beyond ’15-’16, and in this situation everybody has to make an effort and we have to negotiate things that make that possible,” said Quebec Treasury Board President Martin Coiteux

The coming months will be risky ones for the Couillard government, with negotiations to renew collective agreements for 550,000 public sector employees.

Union member say they’ll do whatever it takes. They are planning a 24-hour period where they’ll do everything from protesting in the streets to a strike.

“We have a right to strike. That’s a right – still a right – in Quebec, in Canada, in North America, so we’re going to exercise that right. We’re going to put pressure over them. They don’t have the right to steal what we earned, so we’re going to defend ourselves, we’re going to fight back, so this is the beginning right now,” said Ranger.

The joint trade union front is demanding annual wage increases of more than 4.5 per cent over three years.

“They’re going to get into a very tough period. I think for the next year this is going to be rough and tough because of the cuts, because of the tough decisions they’re going to have to make,” said political analyst Jean Lapierre.


With files from La Presse Canadienne