5 things to watch for with a new CAQ government led by Francois Legault
The Coalition Avenir Québec, led by François Legault, won a second consecutive majority mandate in Monday's election.
Here are five things to watch out for as the CAQ leader prepares to name his new cabinet and begins to make good on his party's election promises.
TAXES/COST OF LIVING
The Coalition Avenir Quebec has promised to distribute up to $600 to Quebecers in December to help with the cost of living.
Adults making less than $50,000 are to receive a one-time payment of $600, and people with annual incomes between $50,000 and $100,000 will receive $400. Legault has also promised to cut income taxes by a total of 2.5 per cent over the next decade, with a first cut aimed at the two lowest tax brackets in 2023. Legault says one his government's first priorities is to adopt a law capping government-controlled fees, such as driver's licences.
ENVIRONMENT
The CAQ has committed to cutting greenhouse gases by 37.5 per cent, compared with 1990 levels, by 2030, and it is aiming for the province to have net-zero emissions by 2050.
Coalition Avenir Quebec Leader Francois Legault walks on the stage with his wife Isabelle Brais to speak to supporters after his victory Monday, October 3, 2022 in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Jacques Boissinot
Legault says the only way to reach those goals is to build more hydroelectric dams, and he says he will order the province's hydro utility to analyze which rivers can be dammed.
The province, however, missed its previous emissions-reduction goal, and experts have said Quebec won't achieve its current targets without a more aggressive approach.
HEALTH CARE
Legault has backed away from his 2018 promise to give each Quebecer access to a family doctor. Instead, he has committed to building a digital health platform to direct people to a health-care professional, such as a doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
The CAQ has also promised to invest $400 million to recruit 660 doctors and 5,000 health professionals, and the party has said it will open two private medical centres by 2025 in Montreal and Quebec City that would offer health services subsidized by the public insurance system.
Legault has also said Christian Dube will remain as health minister in the next cabinet.
IMMIGRATION
The CAQ has promised to maintain immigration levels at roughly 50,000 newcomers a year and has said that the province doesn't have the capacity to properly integrate more people and teach them French. Legault has said he will create incentives for immigrants to move to Quebec City and to regions outside the Montreal area.
Immigration was the topic that tripped up the CAQ the most during the election campaign, and Legault's opponents have accused him of stoking fears of immigrants and dividing Quebecers on the issue.
Legault had to walk back comments tying immigration with "violence" and "extremism," and his campaign suffered a blow after incumbent Immigration Minister Jean Boulet said 80 per cent of immigrants to Quebec "don't vote" and "don't speak French."
PARITY
On Monday night, Legault lauded the record number of women from all parties elected to the legislature -- in total, 58 of the province's 125 seats were won by women. The CAQ elected 41 women to its caucus, and among them is Kateri Champagne Jourdain, the first Indigenous woman to win a seat in the legislature; she won the riding of Duplessis, located in the Cote-Nord region.
In 2018, Legault fulfilled a promise to form a gender-balanced cabinet, giving portfolios to 13 men and 13 women. That parity was short-lived, however, because just after three months, MarieChantal Chasse resigned as environment minister and was replaced by Benoit Charette. Legault has not committed to having gender parity in his new cabinet.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.