Treasury Board President Martin Coiteux says he is grateful for the suggestions, unveiled Sunday, on how to cut government spending, but says some of the measures would be too harsh and too swift for people to accept.
An independent committee of experts chaired by veteran Liberal Lucienne Robillard released its eagerly-awaited list of proposals on how to balance Quebec’s books.
They suggested a total of $2.3 billion dollars in changes to programs including daycare, increased ambulance fees and tuition for international students and cuts to transfers made to the province’s municipalities.
But the government has recently announced a slew of measures designed to take aim at many of the programs mentioned in the report.
“Much has already happened on the municipal side, on the agricultural side, on the day care side. … We've already taken some major decisions. Some major decisions, and some major decisions are still to come in other areas as well,” he said.
One proposal was to cut down transfers to municipalities by $1.3 billion, but the government has already decided to reduced transfers to $300 million and is still fine with that measure.
Robillard also suggested $35 a day for daycare fees and Coiteux says that would simply be unmanageable for most families -- that would be $350 a week to fork over.
The government announced a sliding scale for daycare fees would come into effect Jan. 1, 2015.
While implementing the report’s recommendations would draw more money from the federal government in tax deductions in the long run, Coiteux says it isn’t practical to apply them on a day-to-day basis.
Also Monday, the Council on the Status of Women is warning higher daycare fees may force some women to leave work.
It says it believes that certain women, in couples with lower income or single families headed by women might decide to stay home with their children instead of working.
Over the weekend, Families Minister Francine Charbonneau admitted she did not consult with the council before reaching her decision about daycare fees.
She said she know admits she should have, but there is no indication that will change the Liberals’ decision on the sliding scale structure.