We can expect Pierre Fitzgibbon to quickly return to his duties as Minister for Business and Innovation within the next CAQ government, and we can also hope that he will provide the political leadership needed to tackle the labor shortage problem that threatens to further undermine Quebec’s economic development.
Posted at 6:30am
The day after October 3, all major employers’ organizations congratulated Quebec’s Premier François Legault and the Coalition avenir Québec on their re-election, but also immediately insisted that the next government put the problem of labor shortages – work – at the top of its list of priorities Priorities.
Whether it’s the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters (MEQ) or the Federation of Quebec Chambers of Commerce (FCCQ), the organizations representing Quebec’s businesses are begging the next government to make labor shortages a priority to grant
In his words of congratulations, FCCQ President Charles Milliard reminds François Legault that, according to the latest available data, there are 271,000 job vacancies in Quebec.
Véronique Proulx, CEO of MEQ, in her message to the next government, specifies that 31,985 manufacturing jobs are currently unfilled, a shortage that has a direct impact on the economic side effects in the region, on the postponement of investments and on supply chains .
To meet this glaring need, there are no 36 solutions, Quebec must – at least temporarily – increase the intake of new immigrants beyond the extremely strict threshold of 50,000 prescribed by François Legault.
If Premier Legault has remained inflexible over the past few months on that absolute threshold of 50,000 new immigrants per year, we can understand that it was so as not to undermine its electoral base and worry certain constituents who continue to believe that the stranger one poses a threat to them and their way of life.
But just as François Legault ignored his promise to review Quebec’s electoral system during his first term, and now feels absolutely no commitment to that obligation, the prime minister will need to broaden his views on immigration on the cusp of new arrivals, which is what it is will enable companies to find available labour.
Fitzgibbon knows it and he can
If there’s anyone who knows how badly Quebec needs recruits to regenerate its workforce, it’s Pierre Fitzgibbon. For the past four years, as Minister for Business and Innovation, he has worked daily with dozens of entrepreneurs who have described and repeated to him the problems and threats they face.
Every time he’s been asked to comment on labor shortages over the past four years, Minister Fitzgibbons grimaced a little before feeding himself the guideline: Automating and digitizing industrial processes will make it possible to increase productivity from companies, reduce their labor requirements and increase prosperity.
Ultimately, this equation becomes possible when a company or an area of activity reaches a level of maturity that allows it to make that quantitative leap, but to get there it is necessary to maintain a level of employment that only increases with the retirement of more than 150,000 employees per year.
Pierre Fitzgibbon has a certain superiority over François Legault, who has often forgiven him for being very liberal in interpreting certain codes of conduct that an elected official must respect. I meet with business leaders every week and they all tell me the same thing they have to tell the minister: ‘We are understaffed, we urgently need recruits. »
Recently, the mayor of Matagami in northern Quebec went even further, stating that the region simply lacks people and that at least 400 families need to settle there quickly to keep the infrastructure going.
Expanding the pool of available talent is therefore essential for the next Minister of Business and Innovation in his development vision if Québec is to reach its full growth potential.
The minister will need to show leadership to convince the prime minister and the CAQ group of the urgency of the problem in order to quickly increase the number of people available and willing to work to prevent Quebec’s economy from suffering any longer the damaging effects suffers from a lack of talent that plagues them.