MONTREAL - When it comes to creating wealth, Quebec deserves only a "mediocre" passing grade and must act quickly to maintain social programs in light of the aging population, according to the province's largest employers' group.
"Society in general has been sitting a little too comfortably on the gains that followed the Quiet Revolution so today, when we compare, ... we see that in many areas we lag behind," Yves-Thomas Dorval, president of the Quebec Employers Council, told a news conference Wednesday.
The council said the province deserves a C grade, which is lower than Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. The report also compared the province to member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Using 20 indicators, it gave Quebec good marks for university graduation, taxation on business investment and spending on research and development. That was offset by the need to do more on the economic integration of immigrants, payroll taxes, labour laws and public debt, it said in its first report card.
GDP per capita in Quebec is higher than that of France, Spain, Italy, Greece, South Korea and New Zealand, but much lower than Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia, the United States, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries.
The council said the current situation reflects conditions in society rather than the actions of any particular government or political party.
Dorval acknowledged that Quebec has withstood the recession better than most of the world. But he said this was attributable to massive government investments to upgrade aging infrastructure and the fact that Quebec had less to lose than others because it had benefited less from global growth in previous years.
The council condemned the weak "entrepreneurial intensity" of Quebecers compared with Canada's three largest provinces, which it attributed to historical factors and a "lack of role models."
Entrepreneurs or bosses are viewed as sinners for making money, or are less hungry to succeed, Dorval added.
It also acknowledged that culturally Quebecers may also be less attracted to wealth than other citizens of Canada or other countries.
Yet Quebecers tend to want the most generous social programs, whether it be for pensions, parental leave, health and safety, or labour standards.
"We want to be more generous everywhere but we are not interested in money. But in the context of an aging population we have no choice but to have money," Dorval added.
He called on government, employers, social groups and workers to contribute to improve the situation by being realistic, pragmatic and courageous in identifying solutions.
Businesses must also work harder to integrate immigrants, something where Quebec lags behind other provinces, he said.
Quebec's economic development minister agreed that the province must "accelerate the creation of wealth."
"We recognize that there are weaknesses and deficiencies. We need to work on it and have come to the same conclusions as the employers' council," Clement Gignac told reporters in Quebec City.
He said the government has begun to control spending and reduce the corporate tax burden.
