Have drivers become the new smokers? Back in the day, whenever the government needed to squeeze people a little more, they went for the puffers or sometimes, the drinkers.
Now, if you drive in Quebec the government looks at you and sees dollar signs.
We are taxed on our insurance our licences and our gas. There are special taxes to pay for public transportation. There are extra taxes if you live on the island of Montreal and if you ride a motorcycle then see your bank manager. Gas falls to below a buck in many places in Canada, but not here.
In this week's so-called mini-budget, the government decided to go to the well again with another hit on drivers with higher gas taxes and insurance premiums. Then the finance minister in his best "cat that ate the canary face" denied Quebecers would be paying more in taxes.
Well there's about half a dozen measures that will cost you and I more, regardless of what they are called. In fact, one study says an average Quebec family will be paying an extra $1,300 in 2015 in non-taxes, and this is just the beginning – wait until the real budget in the spring.
Now I'm all in favour of bringing some sanity to public finances in Quebec, but can the government please be honest and take a serious look at the real problem – the huge over bloated Quebec bureaucracy and our nanny state obsession? It seems everyone praises the Quebec model, but no one follows it.
Peladeau throws his hat into the ring
So PKP is officially in the hunt for arguably the worst job in Canadian politics – leader of the Parti Quebecois.
The MNA for Quebecor had his campaign launch this week, where once again he pledged to remove Quebec from those awful Canadian shackles. He actually had the nerve to say Quebec is not free.
I'm really not sure what qualifications this child of privilege has for leading Quebec. He is something of a business celebrity here, thanks to his father, his partner is one of the best known vedettes in the Quebec's constellation of celebrity, but other than that, there’s not much there.
Separation, he says, is his only objective, as if it would give us more sunny days. He may be politically naïve and a measure less astute than he thinks he is.
The PQ may fall for his star power, but give him credit for one thing: he's honest about what he wants, as misguided as that might be. The PQ has spent years fibbing about separation. Most of the time it tried being just a little pregnant on the issue.
It’s my sense Quebec and Quebecers have moved on which will leave Mr. Peladeau twisting in the wind hanging on to an idea from another time, and deservedly so.
An important anniversary
It is so important that we always remember December 6th. It is our responsibility to the women who died on that terrible night 25 years ago. What happened on that bitterly cold night is part of us and of our city and our country – young women murdered because they were women. They were victims of hatred, and there is still so much work to do. I believe women have made incredible progress in their fight for true equality but not nearly enough.
Gun control remains a vital concern. The weapon that was used by the murderer that night is still legal in Canada and that’s unacceptable. No one has ever been able to convince why people living in urban areas need guns. It's not about freedom to bear arms. This is not America. It's about sound public policy and freedom for everyone to feel safe.
And finally, to someone who always showed us nothing but the best, someone who could make us so proud, someone who demonstrated every day how good we could be and someone who always showed so much grace. Merci Monsieur Beliveau. Adieu.
