Sound management of public finances: Rodriguez’s credibility called into question

Pablo Rodriguez’s credibility in terms of sound management of public finances is called into question because of his past as Justin Trudeau’s minister.

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The race for leadership of the Liberal Party of Quebec has not officially started but the favorite is already the subject of attacks on the legacy he carries from the federal party. Especially in the context where the Quebec Liberals have returned to the principle of “budgetary rigor” and promise a zero deficit if they return to power in 2026.

“He was part of a government where we spent like sailors on the run!” launched his opponent, MP Frédéric Beauchemin, on Friday at the opening of a liberal congress bringing together some 950 members this weekend in Lévis.

According to him, the former federal Liberal minister inevitably carries “the road map” of a party “which has spent extremely.”

“For the sound management of public finances, I think it is important to demonstrate one’s ability to make good decisions precisely to ensure that we do not jeopardize the future of young people, I am not sure that this “this is what the central government has demonstrated,” insisted the banker, in the press scrum.

Without mentioning the name of Pablo Rodriguez, aspiring leader Charles Milliard also criticized the way in which Justin Trudeau and his troops manage public funds. “The important thing is to have a plan to return to a balanced budget, but I must say that in the federal Liberal government, we are still waiting for a plan to return to a balanced budget,” he said. -he slipped.

Attention au filet social

Called to open his game on the return to budgetary balance in Quebec, Pablo Rodriguez showed himself careful not to touch the social safety net.

“Sound management of public finances is in the DNA of the PLQ and I am part of it. Now there are different ways to do this. We can restore public finances in two years, five years, ten years, but if we decide to do it very quickly, but at the same time there are seniors who do not have access to the health system […] Has our society just gotten richer? I think not,” he told reporters.

In the race, however, he benefits from the support of former minister Martin Coiteux, one of the architects of liberal austerity under the government of Philippe Couillard.

All declared candidates for the leadership of the PLQ are present at the convention.