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Quebec’s political leaders unveiled new promises on the economy and violence against women Sunday as they prepared for the campaign’s first televised debate.
Liberal Leader Charles Milliard unveiled his party’s fiscal framework in Quebec City, promising a return to “economic realism” and a balanced budget by 2029-30.
“This is not the time for election goodies or tax cuts that may be appealing, but are not very realistic in the current context,” Milliard told reporters.
The Liberals say they can close a $6-billion hole in the province’s finances and pay for their promises by reforming government, refocusing some tax credits and regulating illegal online gambling, among other measures.
The framework also anticipates a $4.36-billion increase in federal transfers by 2030-31 and includes $4 billion in contingency provisions because of uncertainty surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff war.
Liberals foresee cuts in public service positions
Milliard has promised to cut 12,000 public service positions while maintaining services in health, education and culture. Departmental spending would increase by an average of 2.4 per cent over the next five years.
“I’m not afraid at all of the word austerity because what we’re proposing is not austerity, he said.
“It’s a return to economic realism.”
The Parti Québécois is now the only major party that has yet to present its fiscal framework.
Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has said he will release it Tuesday, the same day as the first leaders’ debate.
Victory within reach, CAQ says
Meanwhile, Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) Leader Christine Fréchette sought to rally supporters Sunday, telling hundreds of them that a third CAQ mandate remains within reach.
“This victory is within our reach,” Frechette told an enthusiastic crowd in Kingsey Falls, in the Centre-du-Quebec region, during her first major rally of the campaign.
About 400 supporters and 88 of the CAQ’s 125 candidates attended the rally.
Fréchette also promoted the CAQ’s autonomist approach, which seeks greater powers for Quebec within Canada without pursuing independence.
The position has long allowed the CAQ to present itself as a third option between the federalist and sovereigntist camps that have traditionally dominated Quebec politics.
The CAQ fell to lows in public opinion polls earlier this year before making gains under Fréchette, though its momentum now appears to have stalled.
Fréchette is expected to take the rest of Sunday and Monday off the campaign trail to prepare for the debates.
The five party leaders will face off in TVA’s Face-à-Face on Tuesday and Noovo and Crave’s leaders’ debate Wednesday. A third debate will air on Radio-Canada the following week.
More money, more shelters for women
Elsewhere Sunday, Québec Solidaire and the PQ both unveiled measures aimed at protecting women from violence.
QS Leader Ruba Ghazal proposed spending $10 million to create a first-line service for victims of online hate and harassment.
“Freedom of expression does not mean the freedom to intimidate, threaten or harass,” Ghazal told reporters in Montreal.
QS would also provide 10 days of paid leave, at the employer’s expense, to women experiencing domestic violence and spend $600 million to create up to 1,000 new spaces in women’s shelters.
The PQ, meanwhile, promised to build six new emergency shelters in Montreal, Outaouais, Laval, Lanaudière, Montérégie and the Capitale-Nationale, creating an estimated 70 to 80 spaces.
The party pledged that over four years they would invest $35 million in emergency shelters and increase funding for second-stage shelters by $52 million.
St-Pierre Plamondon did not attend the announcement as he prepared for this week’s debates.
