Reactions in Quebec after Finance Minister Éric Girard’s presentation of the economic update on Thursday afternoon have been mixed.
• Also read: Economic update: Elderly aid paid out in the spring
• Also read: Economic update: 6.44% indexation of social assistance and tax credits
• Also read: Minister Girard wants to encourage seniors under 70 to work
It is the elders who reap the lion’s share. Individuals age 70 and older are eligible for an enhanced tax credit, increasing from $411 to $2,000, upon filing their 2022 income tax returns.
“We will pay the bills, we will pay the debts that have accumulated during the pandemic,” says one lady happily.
Others see the news with a little more skepticism.
“I’m certainly not happy because we’re paying for it in other ways. What they give us with one hand, they take away with the other,” said one man.
Unaffected by the increase in the cost of living, some households awaiting new anti-inflation measures remained dissatisfied.
“Many Quebecers who will not see François Legault’s government will help them next year. It is good to have made improvements in the financial conditions of people over 70 in Quebec, we underline and applaud it. But there are 85% of the population who are under 70 years old and these people will not receive any help from the government,” stresses Étienne Grandmont, MP for Quebec Solidaire in Taschenreau.
Finally, the Quebec housing rights group FRAPRU mentions that there is nothing new in the amount of $445 million allocated for social housing, since this amount was already announced last June.
“Obviously for the government, the fate of low and modest-income renter households, who are currently depriving themselves of their necessities, cutting back on groceries month after month, having to go to food banks, that’s not their priority and that’s unfortunate,” FRAPRU said -Narrator Véronique Laflamme.
– With information from Élodie Drolet
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