'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."
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."
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
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
3 injured after man with knife enters Montreal-area mosque
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
Police arrest 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole Porsche and ran over its owner
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Woman nearly shut out of mother's estate sues brother in B.C. Supreme Court – and wins
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Teen arrested in New Brunswick after emergency alert; 5 people in custody
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
Kamala Harris tells Oprah any intruder to her home is 'getting shot'
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: 'If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot.'
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
Woman shot by B.C. police was Colombian refugee with young daughter, advocate says
Advocates have identified the woman who died this week after being shot by police in Surrey, B.C., as a South American refugee who was raising a young daughter.
'We're still pushing hard': Search for missing Manitoba boy continues, RCMP find tracks
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
Video released of person of interest after cat is allegedly set on fire in Orillia, Ont.
Provincial police investigating the death of a cat that was allegedly set on fire in Orillia earlier this week released surveillance video of a person of interest in the case.