Affordability the focus for parties on Day 4 of the Quebec election

Affordability and the economy took the spotlight on Sunday as Quebec’s election campaign entered its fourth day, with party leaders unveiling their visions to ease financial pressures while grappling with the province’s budgetary constraints.

The Quebec Liberal Party and Québec solidaire promised to make housing more affordable, while the Conservatives promised more tax cuts and the Coalition Avenir Québec released its full fiscal plan. Meanwhile, the Parti Québécois emphasized protecting the French language by proposing stricter immigration policies.

According to Quebec’s auditor general, the next government will face significant budgetary constraints. A pre-election report published earlier this month highlighted that Quebec’s multi-billion dollar deficit must be eliminated by 2029-2030 under the balanced-budget law, leaving little room for ambitious campaign promises.

The Coalition Avenir Québec called on the other parties Sunday to follow its lead and release their own fiscal blueprints.

According to party leader Christine Fréchette and Finance Minister Eric Girard, a third Coalition Avenir Québec government would spend an additional $9.7 billion over five years to fulfil its promises, many of which have yet to be announced.

Quebec would then need to generate $6 billion in revenue to reach a balanced budget, they said. Fréchette said she would not lower taxes until the budget is balanced.

Fréchette’s party is counting on “expected revenues” from the federal government, without any formal commitment from Ottawa.

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“We’re focused on balancing the budget, and we’re also facing an economic and financial climate that’s leading us into rougher waters than usual,” she said.

Housing affordability was a focal point of Sunday’s campaign announcements, with the Quebec Liberal Party and Québec solidaire both unveiling plans to address rising costs.

Liberal leader Charles Milliard focused on making life more affordable for seniors, proposing to cap rents and service fees in privately managed seniors’ homes.

“A senior citizen on public housing assistance should never have to leave their home because of an exorbitant rent increase,” he said.

Québec solidaire promised 50,000 new units of social housing and a rent cap for all tenants, saying rents should not outpace inflation. Parliamentary leader Ruba Ghazal said the average rent prices skyrocketed since the Coalition Avenir Québec first took power in 2018.

Both Milliard and Ghazal took jabs at Fréchette, who claimed on Saturday that the housing crisis has been “solved” in “many regions” of Quebec with increasing vacancy rates.

“Just because homes are empty doesn’t mean people can afford them,” Ghazal told reporters on Sunday.

Conservative leader Éric Duhaime emphasized tackling the cost of living through tax reductions. On Sunday, Duhaime announced that his government would abolish the sales tax on used goods.

The Conservatives have also promised what they describe as “a historic reduction in the tax burden on individuals” and to reduce government spending by $47 billion.

PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon continued to focus on immigration, linking it to the decline of the French language in Quebec, which prompted renewed criticism from his rivals who accuse him of using immigrants as scapegoats.

St-Pierre Plamondon told journalists Quebec is facing a “linguistic emergency” and a “historic decline in the French language,” which he considers to be central to Quebecois identity.

He proposed expanding French-language laws to junior colleges, limiting access to English-language schools for francophones and immigrants.

The PQ leader also suggested requiring children of temporary migrants to attend French schools and tightening French-language requirements for work permits, with exceptions for the agricultural sector. Additionally, the PQ would prioritize immigrants proficient in French.

“The CAQ has undermined control over our immigration system,” said St-Pierre Plamondon. “We will significantly lower immigration quotas, which … is also essential if we are to tackle the historic decline in the use of French in Quebec.”

Immigration has been a central theme of the PQ’s campaign so far, with St-Pierre Plamondon arguing that current immigration levels exceed Quebec’s capacity to provide adequate housing and public services.