Light Survey: Overtaxed, Quebecers find they don’t get enough for their money

Struggling with stubborn inflation, Quebecers have, more than ever, the feeling of paying too much taxes in relation to the government services they receive, according to a new Léger survey.

The results of the survey could not be clearer: 75% of respondents judge that they do not get enough for their money when they consider the taxes they pay and the state of public services, compared to 17%. only those who benefit from it.

“I’ve been doing this job for almost 40 years, and these are the worst results I’ve seen on government efficiency,” summarizes pollster Jean-Marc Léger.

In fact, two-thirds of Quebecers (67%) find that the Legault government “mismanages” public funds, and dissatisfaction with management by the federal government is even greater (71%). The municipalities are doing a little better, with a satisfaction rate of 48%.

“We see the waltz of billions that we invest in businesses and programs almost everywhere, and alongside the significant deficits at the federal and provincial level. People have the impression that governments do not understand how hard it is to earn $1 and send 50% of it to taxes,” notes Mr. Léger.

Widespread dissatisfaction

Significantly, the survey shows that the feeling of paying too much for services that appear insufficient extends to all groups in the population.

“It transcends generations, it transcends political parties, it transcends language, it’s really everywhere,” notes the pollster.

However, some groups are more unhappy than others. This is particularly the case for those aged 34 to 54, where this rate reaches the 80% mark.

“Among the services we often talk about is access to a family doctor or even subsidized daycare. We see that these are concerns that affect this age group more,” underlines Félix Mathieu, professor of political science at the University of Winnipeg.

The feeling of not getting enough for one’s money is also stronger among non-French speakers (80%) than among French speakers (73%), which could be explained by the debates around Law 96, according to the political scientist. , which could have made some fear losing access to public services in a language other than French.

Bad news for the CAQ

Furthermore, the results of the poll are perhaps a bad omen for François Legault’s CAQ, maintains Jean-Marc Léger.

“Each party has an electoral utility. The Liberals have long been the party of the economy, the PQ is the party of sovereignty, Québec solidaire, that of social solidarity. The CAQ, its usefulness, is the financial management of the State. And on that, Quebecers don’t give them a passing grade,” he explains.

“This is an element which explains its fall in the polls,” continues the pollster, recalling that the CAQ (24%) is now 10 points behind the PQ (34%) in voting intentions.

Quebecers especially do not want to pay more taxes

The prospect of a tax increase gives Quebecers hives, who feel that they are already paying more than their fair share for public services.

This is what a new Léger survey indicates, where we can observe that 84% of people are not ready to pay more taxes to improve the quality of public services, compared to only 10% who responded that they would be willing to do it.

“There is just no room for an increase in taxes,” notes pollster Jean-Marc Léger. And with numbers like that, we can almost say that it’s unanimous.”

The survey also shows that the vast majority of Quebecers (72%) have the feeling of being “taxed too much”, and that only a negligible number of them (1%) consider that they do not send enough money to the state.

And as other surveys have already shown in the past, many have the impression that they are taxed the most (76%) in Canada.

Left and right

Furthermore, it is remarkable that the opinion unfavorable to tax increases is shared by Quebecers from all political horizons, whether on the left or the right.

In fact, even voters from Québec solidaire (68%) and the NDP (74%) are mainly against an increase in the tax burden.

“It’s still impressive,” muses political scientist Félix Mathieu, who suggests that these results are perhaps attributable to the dissatisfaction of these voters with the governments in place.

Caught by the throat

Hostility to the idea of ​​raising taxes is largely explained by the difficult economic context, believes another political scientist, Catherine Ouellet, lecturer at the University of Montreal.

“It’s inflation that is really the backbone of public opinion on this issue,” she explains.

“Yes, it’s a major element,” opines Jean-Marc Léger, pointing out the fact that many Quebecers are today forced to live from paycheck to paycheck, and that it is difficult for them to save money. next to.

Methodology: The web survey was conducted from April 19 to 21, 2024, among 1,026 respondents aged 18 and over. The results were weighted to ensure a representative sample of the targeted population. It is not possible to calculate a margin of error on a sample taken from a panel, but for comparison, the maximum margin of error for such a sample is ± 3.06%, and this 19 times out of 20.