Noting the failure of negotiations to resolve the “fiscal imbalance” in health, François Legault recalled, on Tuesday, his warnings against Justin Trudeau during the last federal election.
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“Let’s remember the last federal election, during the election I said that Mr. Trudeau was not open to increasing health transfers or giving us more powers in immigration. Despite this, he went to get around thirty deputies [au Québec] “Commented the Prime Minister CAQ.
The day before, the Council of the Federation announced that it accepted Ottawa’s offer to increase health transfers by only $46.2 billion over 10 years. For Quebec, this represents an increase of only $1 billion annually, or six times less than claimed.
“It’s not completely settled,” dropped François Legault, recalling that he will miss $ 5 billion per year to adequately fund health needs.
He invites the population to put pressure on the federal government, even if the form that this popular support could take remains unclear.
Without committing to it, François Legault did not rule out the holding of a commission like that of Yves Séguin, in the early 2000s, on the fiscal imbalance or the possibility of a sectoral referendum on this issue.
“We will have to see what are the means to ensure that we have the support of the population. But, before thinking of a sectoral referendum, it would first be necessary for Quebeckers and then Canadians to be convinced that there is a structural problem,” he explained.
Mr. Legault also again mentioned the upcoming federal election, but the Conservative Party of Canada does not seem more inclined to further increase health transfers.
Despite the impasse, the CAQ premier promises to continue the efforts. “We will have to explain again that this is not sustainable in the long term,” he said.
“We obviously see that there is a fiscal imbalance,” he argues.
Unsurprisingly, the opposition parties denounced in unison Quebec’s meager harvest from Ottawa. Liberals and PQ have called it a “discount deal”.
The interim leader of the PLQ spoke of an attitude of “great resignation” on the part of Mr. Legault. “I think that, in his behavior, Mr. François Legault, the Prime Minister did not demonstrate the combativeness that we could have expected,” declared Marc Tanguay.
However, he struggled to explain how a Liberal government could have done better. “The balance of power is in the political pressure that we can do, the political pressure, the fact of saying: It does not pass the ramp”, he offered.
The co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Manon Massé, speaks for her part of a “failure”. “A failure that digs a $5 billion hole in the Quebec budget. Mr. Legault puffed out his chest. He comes back looking down, ”she said at a press briefing.
The shortfall is now fueling fears in the opposition. “I’m asking him for one thing, which is that he make a firm commitment not to cut public services to fill this hole,” said Ms. Massé.
Last week, the Prime Minister said that the shortfall would make it harder to balance the budget and “affect our deficit in Quebec”.