Leadership of the PLQ | Milliard and Beauchemin attack Rodriguez on budgetary rigor

(Lévis) The opening of the convention of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) gave rise to the first clashes between the candidates for the leadership, Charles Milliard criticizing the Trudeau government, of which his opponent Pablo Rodriguez was a member, of not having always no plan to return to balanced budgets.

However, the next leader of the PLQ will have to tackle “the abysmal budget deficit” in Quebec, now estimated at 11 billion, and “that’s what I am going to do,” declared the former president of the Federation of Chambers of commerce of Quebec.

Charles Milliard, however, did not want to name the former federal minister considered to be the favorite to succeed Dominique Anglade. A recent Léger survey–The Journal –TVA revealed that with Pablo Rodriguez at its head, the PLQ would obtain 28% of support at the provincial level, far ahead of all the other candidates.

MP Frédéric Beauchemin also led a frontal attack against Pablo Rodriguez, member of a government “that spent like drunken sailors”. “The credibility of the federal government in managing public finances is not very good,” he said.

A few moments earlier, Pablo Rodriguez had affirmed that it was possible to reduce Quebec’s deficit in just two years, but that he rather wanted a balance between “sound management of public finances and being there for the Company “.

“If we decide to go there very quickly and seniors don’t have access to health care or students drop out because they don’t have teachers, has our society just become richer? I think not. »

During their last general council in Bromont, last May, liberal activists spoke out in favor of a plan to return to a balanced budget if they form the next government in 2026.

Support for the third lien

Meanwhile, all the candidates for leadership have shown themselves open to studying the construction of a third link between the national capital and Lévis, where the political party’s congress is being held this weekend.

The debate was relaunched by the announcement, the day before, of MP Frédéric Beauchemin, who threw a wrench in the pond by showing his support for the creation of a highway project to the east of the two current bridges.

A project that he would like to see carried out as a public-private partnership (PPP) “while respecting the public financial resources” of the province.

In turn, upon their arrival at the Lévis convention center on Friday evening, his adversaries therefore had to respond as to their respective positions on this essential subject for the South Shore of Quebec.

Former federal minister Pablo Rodriguez, for his part, said he was in favor of an “underground with a tramway” which would connect the two city centers, like the project proposed by the Caisse de dépôt and placement of Quebec in its report presented to the government last June. The cost of such a project was then estimated at $4 billion.

The key, according to him, is a travel time of “6 to 7 minutes” with several incentive parking lots which remove “hundreds of thousands of cars from the bridges”.

The former president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec Charles Milliard, who himself lived in Lévis for a long time, indicated that he had “even more ambition” and that he would present “a mobility plan global” for Eastern Quebec. However, he did not want to say whether he would favor a motorway link, reserved for public transport, or combining the two.

For a motorway link

The former mayor of Montreal Denis Coderre did not beat around the bush, he who had already spoken out in favor of a project reserved for cars and therefore without public transport. “We are going to do the third link, because a self-respecting capital needs it,” he announced.

For his part, tax lawyer Marc Bélanger delivered a vibrant plea for the addition of a highway link including a portion reserved for public transportation, a “fundamental” economic development project for the future of the region.

However, the PLQ caucus is officially opposed to a project for a third highway link to which it rather prefers a version reserved for public transport, recalled the interim leader of the political party.

The latter, however, does not see any contradiction with the position of the leadership candidates who “may have other visions, other proposals”. “The members will judge,” he said.

These positions, however, contrast with those adopted by the party in recent years. After launching an analysis of the project under the Couillard government, his successor Dominique Anglade turned his back on him, the party then saying it was “resolutely opposed” to the first version of the project presented by the government of François Legault, namely a tunnel estimated at 10 billion dollars.

This weekend’s convention should culminate in the adoption of two resolutions in favor of a major reform in education and the adoption of a Quebec Constitution. A tribute to former leader Dominique Anglade, who fell into disgrace following the last general elections, in the fall of 2022, is planned for Saturday evening.