QUEBEC - With a general election expected in the spring, Quebec will table what is being dubbed a "continuity budget" on March 20.
With Premier Jean Charest in the fourth year of his term, Finance Minister Raymond Bachand's budget could serve as a springboard for the Liberals' bid for a fourth straight mandate.
"To be very frank, I'm not doing this budget thinking of the elections," said Quebec Finance Minister Raymond Bachand. "This is a budget of continuity. We started on this plan, this is my third budget and we are going back to a balanced budget while sustaining health, education and family services."
Seeking to return the province's finances to balance by 2013, Bachand was predicting a surplus of $2 billion by 2015.
"We must create conditions for creating wealth and prosperity," he said in Quebec City.
Based on the theme of building for the future, Bachand offered some suggestions of what might be in store: from shifting senior care from hospitals to private residences; to protecting the environment; and better planning for retirement.
Bachand said he has no intention of increasing the tax burden of Quebecers, which is already considered the heaviest in Canada.
The March 20 budget will come nine days before the federal one, which is expected to make considerable spending cuts.
Bachand's budget will likely contain several measures aimed at attracting investors to pour money into Charest's ambitious plan to develop northern Quebec.
Quebecers will also find out whether Bachand is on track to balance the province's books in 2013-14. Last year, the minister forecast a $3.8-billion deficit in 2011-12.
