'He's spending a lot of money': Quebec groups respond to CAQ budget

Quebec business, health care, construction and other industry experts responded with skepticism to the province's historic budget that would create the biggest deficit in history.

"This year alone, we're spending $10 million in debt servicing," said Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) vice-president Renaud Brossard. "That's more than what we spend on the department of families."

• Here are the highlights of the Quebec budget

The MEI called the governing CAQ one of the biggest spending governments in Quebec's history.

"He's spending a lot of money," said Brossard. "Where is it going? We don't know. Spending is up 48 per cent. I'm not sure service quality is up 48 per cent."

Health care

On health care this year, the government will add $2 billion more to that budget, with $360 million going towards improving access.

"It's going to help. Game changer? I'm not so sure," said CSN president Caroline Messier.

Health-care workers say the problem is too many people are still waiting for care, and what's needed is a plan to bring in more front-line medical professionals.

"It was a good agreement we reached, but so much has to be done to change the culture in the health system, and the bureaucracy is enormous," said Messier. "People fill out papers more than they take care of people."

Public transit in Montreal

The head of the Montreal public transit authority had some strong criticism of the provincial budget on Tuesday, highlighting in a written statement the "government's lack of commitment to addressing the crisis in funding public transit operations."

"Public transit funding is in the midst of a crisis, and the message the government is sending us is that it's unfortunately not a priority," said Éric Alan Caldwell, Chairman of the STM Board of Directors.

"It's regrettable that the government is using the performance audits currently underway to push the issue back, even though we've been in action for several years on the management of our expenses. It's a missed opportunity that will inevitably lead us back to last-minute negotiations like last fall."

Le gouvernement du Québec présente son #Budget2024 dans un contexte difficile, mais il ne permet pas de répondre aux enjeux criants vécus à Montréal, comme partout au Québec. Nous sommes particulièrement inquiets du désengagement dans le transport collectif, alors que c’est un…

— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) March 12, 2024

Caldwell, who warned last fall that the STM will head into a "downward spiral" if Quebec doesn't help fund its deficits, went on to say that the transit agency will have to reassess the kind of service it will offer to customers next year.

The STM official also noted that investments in modernizing the Metro infrastructure has declined 37 per cent since 2018, which is a "concerning" trend.

"The government recognizes the need to maintain roads and invests more money every year to do so, but this same need is ignored in public transit, even though our metro is over 50 years old. We make over 1 million trips a day. We need to be able to count on a reliable network, just as we do for our roads," Caldwell said.

Housing

On housing, the government is also predicting the real estate market will keep rising.

The average price of a home last year was just under half a million dollars, an increase of 50 per cent since the pandemic.

The construction industry says that 43,000 new homes are being built this year, but what is needed is at least three times more.

Builders appealed to the government to remove the sales tax on new rental units like other provinces did, but that did not happen.

Business

Businesses are also worried.

Several businesses announced that tax credits have expired and costs are going up, and interest rates remain high.

They were hoping for a boost that didn't come.

"There's nothing there, and we are the worst province in Canada for taxation, and, to make it worse, the tax credit is gone," said Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses vice-president Francois Vincent.

The government admitted that 2023 was a bad year and some feel the finance minister is now relying too heavily on the economy to improve in order to help many industries. The fear is what will happen if it doesn't. 

Electric vehicles

For Daniel Breton, president and CEO of Electric Mobility Canada, the Quebec budget failed to impress him when it comes to incentives to buy more electric vehicles (EVs).

After the provincial government released its Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy last September, Berton was hoping for details about how it would be implemented but he was disappointed.

The budget tabled on Tuesday revealed Quebec will phase out rebates for the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles starting in 2025, with the incentive being completely eliminated by January 2027.

Breton said he would have liked to see the government introduce a tax on gas-powered vehicles to subsidize the rebates on the purchase of EVs, which France has recently done.

"It means that the program is financially neutral. It means that it doesn't take away any money to fight climate change. It's super efficient if you're looking at price per tonne for GHG reductions. You keep encouraging the purchase of electric vehicles, and you start discouraging the purchase of gas-guzzlers," Breton said. "I think it's a missed opportunity on behalf of the government."

With files from CTV Montreal's Joe Lofaro