In the Quebec Liberal Party, “the environment will always rise above all issues,” said interim leader Marc Tanguay on Wednesday. However, he said he opposed the introduction of a mileage tax and refused to imagine a Quebec where there would be fewer cars.
“The plan is clearly not to raise taxes,” Mr. Tanguay stressed in an exchange on ecofiscality. “The PLQ plan is, among other things, the REM,” he added, referring to the project launched in 2016 by the Liberal government of Philippe Couillard.
In front of journalists, he emphasized the importance of further developing public transport services. ““Tôuttt est dans tôuttt,” as Raôul Duguay said. If you want to reduce the number of vehicles, you have to improve the availability of public transport much more, and today in Quebec we are not there,” he lamented.
Over the years, the Quebec Employers’ Council, the Montreal Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and CAA-Quebec have advocated for the introduction of a mileage tax to replace others that currently apply to motorists. The Montreal Metropolitan Community is exploring this route, which would charge drivers fees based on the number of kilometers traveled.
Think about the mileage tax
On Tuesday, Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said in an interview with Radio-Canada that we need to “reflect” on “the whole issue of millage taxes.” “Mrs Guilbault, the Ministry of Transport must take a stand,” he added.
The next day, his finance colleague clarified his comments during an interview on 98.5 FM. “Coming with additional taxes is really not the right time,” said Eric Girard. However, “if there were no registration fees for small engines, there might be more small engines than there are today,” he said.
According to Mr. Girard, Quebecers need to “change their behavior” and not just electrify their means of transportation. “If everyone who has two cars in their driveway today, five years from now, has replaced their two gasoline cars with two electric cars and we have the same number of cars on the road, the same traffic jams… It won’t be any more pleasant,” In “There is less traffic jam in an electric car than in a gasoline car,” he said.
Marc Tanguay didn’t want to say the same thing. He also said that Mr Fitzgibbon was simply saying “with both hands in his pockets” that the vehicle fleet needed to be reduced. “You have to be thoughtful and have a vision for it,” he said. In his opinion, alongside public transport, electric vehicles are part of the solution and we must therefore “promote” their purchase, he reiterated.
“More combative”
Chief Tanguay also listed his party’s three priorities at the start of a new parliamentary session. The Liberals will ensure “preserving the purchasing power of Quebecers,” encouraging and “upgrading” housing construction and supply. [les travailleurs de] “on the front lines” such as nurses, teachers and educators.
“We will bring it to a bad time, the word of Quebecers,” the Liberal leader promised. “You will see me more combative than ever,” he said. However, his party has not currently announced any new proposals. He would do it “in due course,” Mr. Tanguay promised.
The interim Liberal leader recalled that his party wants to abolish the property transfer tax (commonly called the “welcome tax”) when buying a first property. The PLQ also wants to eliminate sales tax on “essential products.”