Even though he has just given municipalities the power to impose a tax on registration to finance their public transport services, François Legault is asking them to think again before using it, because Quebecers are “already overwhelmed”.
“The message I’m sending [aux villes], is that Quebecers are already overwhelmed. So be careful and reduce spending before thinking about raising additional revenue,” the Prime Minister said in a press scrum after the official signing of the new fiscal pact with municipalities.
However, the Legault government recently gave cities permission to impose a registration tax to fund public transit with the passage of Bill 39 last week.
François Legault sees no contradiction in this. “A municipality is not obliged to use taxing powers because it has taxing powers,” he argued. It also has to pay attention to the total revenue it will generate, because it is always the same taxpayers, whether in Quebec or in the municipalities.”
“If I wanted to tomorrow morning I could increase the income, but that's absolutely no. We will not increase the QST,” he added.
Isn't the government trying to free itself from the hideous burden of imposing new taxes on citizens by placing the burden on the shoulders of cities?
In response to this question, the prime minister simply reiterated that “Quebecers are already overwhelmed,” without deviating a single word from his previous answers.
Marchand throws a spear
Moments earlier, the government and cities enthusiastically signed the new fiscal compact, now called the “Reciprocity Agreement.”
With a smile on his face, Mr Legault gave a speech highlighting the benefits of this agreement. At the very beginning of his speech, he told the mayors that they could knock on his door at any time if they had a good project and it did not receive approval from Investissement Québec, a promise that provoked an ironic volley from the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand.
“I understand Investissement Québec well, I have a good project,” he said at the start of his speech, referring to the tram that was recently put on hold by the government. The joke drew laughter and applause from the audience.
Specifically, the new fiscal compact includes $500 million to help cities adapt to climate change, $125 million to address homelessness issues and $100 million for water management. The agreement also perpetuates the “QST point”, which guarantees additional revenue to municipalities.