François Legault admits that sovereignty could be a good strategy to protect Quebec identity, but not on a financial level.
Close on his heels by his PQ rival Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the Prime Minister recognized Thursday that the independence of Quebec was a “noble” project. However, he believes that Quebecers would lose out if they left Canada.
“Yes, sovereignty to defend our identity, but to go into the financial field to say that Quebec does not get value for money, I would be a little embarrassed!” he said to his opponent.
He recalled that Quebec receives ten billion $ more than what Quebecers send to Ottawa each year in taxes.
When he was a PQist and in a hurry to achieve independence, François Legault had prepared a document on the finances of a sovereign Quebec. But at that time, Quebec only received $4 billion in equalization. “We are currently receiving $13 billion!” mocked the Prime Minister.
Ottawa “wastes” our money, according to PSPP
According to the leader of the Parti Québécois, we must not lose sight of the fact that Quebecers send $82 billion per year to Ottawa, with “almost no direct services in exchange.”
PSPP denounces the “waste” of public funds by the federal government of Justin Trudeau, which has increased the size of the Canadian state by 40% in eight years.
“Concretely, it’s an increase of 109,000 civil servants in just eight years,” complained the sovereignist leader.
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