If he is concerned about the good management of public finances, the candidate for Liberal leadership Charles Milliard wants nothing to do with austerity.
The Liberal Party of Quebec, which imposed significant cuts under the government of Philippe Couillard, has made budgetary rigor its leitmotif in recent months. Faced with a historic deficit of $11 billion, Quebec must replenish its coffers and gradually return to budget balance, agrees the aspiring leader, but there is no question of destroying public services.
“The election of Charles Milliard at the head of the PLQ is not a return to austerity in any way!” warns the businessman and former CEO of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec, who will be on the starting blocks on Monday for the official launch of the leadership race.
He believes that the social pact is “broken” between the government and citizens, who pay taxes without having the services to which they are entitled. “I think that Quebecers are more interested in having quality services than tax cuts,” he insists, in an interview with our Parliamentary Office. We must therefore generate more wealth.
At the top of his program, he is campaigning to put SMEs back among the priorities of Quebec and the government. The battery industry and the Northvolt project are all well and good, but 95% of companies in Quebec are SMEs.
Quebec companies that need labor, recognizes Charles Milliard, “but the capacity for integration [de nouveaux arrivants] seems to have reached a limit,” he adds in the same breath. According to him, we should not raise immigration thresholds.
The past can be heavy to bear
The 45-year-old man is not fooled. He is aware of his lack of notoriety as a pretender to the liberal throne, facing candidates like former mayor Denis Coderre or former federal liberal minister Pablo Rodriguez.
But political experience can also be heavy to bear. “Defending a record and a past too is a challenge,” underlines the trained pharmacist, who intends to be elected as a deputy even if he does not win the leadership campaign. Pablo Rodriguez was until recently a minister in Justin Trudeau’s government and Denis Coderre led the metropolis for one mandate.
He points out that Paul St-Pierre Plamondon also had no experience in politics before being crowned leader of the Parti Québécois. And he is now leading the polls.
Like the PQ, the Liberals are ripe for a “generational transfer,” believes the youngest of the declared candidates. This is why he believes he is the right man to face PSPP, the solidarity-based Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and the outgoing Prime Minister François Legault in the next elections.
“The PLQ is at a crossroads,” he said. The party has existed for 157 years, but it could, like all parties, die. I mean, that’s the nature of a political party [que] to be able to renew oneself.”
Beauchemin causes surprise and joins Rodriguez
Having been underway for months on the ground, the race for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec will be officially launched on Monday. Five contenders had already announced that they would be in the running before MP Frédéric Beauchemin caused a surprise on Friday, three days before D-Day, by joining Pablo Rodriguez’s team. Aspirants to the Liberal throne still have until April 11 to submit their application form. A delay which could help former mayor Denis Coderre, who is in trouble with the tax authorities. Revenu Québec and the Canada Revenue Agency are demanding a total of $400,000 in unpaid taxes from him. The former number one of the City of Montreal did not return our calls Friday, but the house at the heart of the dispute with the tax authorities is still not sold, according to the real estate agency. The Reds will elect their new leader on June 14, at the end of a five-month campaign.
The candidates announced
-Pablo Rodriguez
Charles Milliard
Denis Coderre
Marc Bélanger
The rules for becoming a candidate for leadership
– Sworn declaration of good conduct which will be submitted to the Electoral Committee, which may prohibit, refuse or exclude a candidacy for serious reasons
– Be a member in good standing of the PLQ
– Collect the signatures of 750 members in good standing from at least 70 counties and 12 regions
– Non-refundable deposit of $40,000
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