(Terrebonne) Paul St-Pierre Plamondon does not like “the parallel” drawn by François Legault between the pandemic and Donald Trump’s tariff threat. It is premature to talk about business aid programs and to consider postponing a return to a balanced budget, he believes.
Posted at 6:56 p.m.
Updated at 7:09 p.m.
The leader of the Parti Québécois affirms that the imposition of customs tariffs of 25% on Canadian products on 1is February remains “a hypothesis” even if the American president clarified his intention on Monday. “I do not assume at this stage that there will be tariffs,” said Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon on the sidelines of a meeting of his caucus in Terrebonne on Tuesday.
“Before making statements to reassure or panic the population. I reiterate that as of today, there are no tariffs and that the objective, ideally, is to succeed in avoiding as much as possible economic measures unfavorable to the interests of Quebec,” launched the PQ leader, who criticizes François Legault for drawing a parallel between the pandemic and the tariff threat.
On Tuesday, François Legault assured that he would “protect Quebecers at all costs” by using a speech similar to that of the health crisis. The day before, he responded that, in the circumstances, he cannot guarantee that the budget balance will be achieved as planned in 2029-2030. Minister Eric Girard confirmed Tuesday that the deadline could be pushed back.
The government’s big financier added that the priority will be to “support our economy”. The government is preparing an aid plan for businesses and citizens inspired by what it did during the pandemic, he said.
According to Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the Legault government is on the wrong track. “We will have to ensure that we do not set up wall-to-wall programs where we print dollars for almost all situations while the sectors will not be affected in the same way,” warned the PQ leader recalling that the context of the historic deficit takes away room for maneuver in Quebec.
“It’s early to set up programs [d’aide] while we don’t know what this negotiation is about [avec les tarifs douaniers] », argued Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
“We have just experienced the worst deficit in the history of Quebec under the CAQ. […] Then, we are already telling patients who have cancer or who have serious illnesses that there are no more services […] and we continue to cut [en santé]. We will have to balance all the societal aspects surrounding the historic deficit into which the CAQ has plunged us if there is a discussion on aid to businesses,” he added.
The Legault government notably mentioned loans at very advantageous rates to help businesses that have liquidity problems. Businesses could also benefit from relaxations on the environmental front, also argued the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charrette.
-Solutions proposed Wednesday
The Parti Québécois will present its game plan on Wednesday morning to support Quebec businesses if Donald Trump carries out his tariff threat. The PQ caucus is holding an “emergency meeting” on Tuesday evening to analyze the series of decrees signed Monday by the new occupant of the White House.
The training evokes this situation to explain that a tallying activity in Terrebonne – to which it had invited the media – is canceled.
Tuesday’s discussions should focus on “a certain number of avenues to protect or promote options by sector” for Quebec businesses, said the leader. Aid programs including subsidies would be ruled out for now, it was added.
« [Il faut dire] how we are going to go about it and how we leverage our companies, their capacity for innovation and their intelligence in a common plan,” explained Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
The leader of the Parti Québécois also asks François Legault to create a “Team Quebec” by bringing together the opposition parties and the government at the same table to define a strategy to respond to the threat from the American president.
The PQ caucus meets Wednesday and Thursday in Terrebonne to develop priorities for the start of the parliamentary term. A strategic choice as the Parti Québécois wants to reconquer its former bastion left vacant by Pierre Fitzgibbon in September. However, the partisan activities planned on the schedule have been canceled.
One of the actions that the political party will take during the parliamentary session will be to table a bill to hold by-elections on a fixed date to avoid a scenario like Terrebonne where the population has been without a deputy for nearly five month.
With Tommy Chouinard, The Press
