Even if he doesn’t plan to call the elections before the end of August, Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) premier and leader François Legault believes he is acting “fairly” by already announcing a commitment of 1.8 billion dollars, since the date of the elections is known to all parties.
Updated yesterday at 11:27pm.
Ariane Krol The press
“I think it’s fair for everyone because everyone knows it’s October 3,” Mr Legault said at a news conference on Friday.
His party issued a press release the day before, before inviting the media to “the coalition’s first election engagement avenir Québec”.
“When the CAQ returns to power on October 3, we commit to building 11,700 social and affordable housing units over the next term,” Mr Legault said on Friday, surrounded by his six candidates from the Laval region.
The CAQ also promises to expand the additional rental program to 7,200 additional apartments. She estimates the total cost of the two measures at 1.8 billion, including more than 1.7 billion for housing.
Mr Legault made the announcement in a lobby at Château Laval, an establishment that advertises itself as a “luxurious venue” on its website.
The costs of this event, like those of the commercials broadcast this summer, are not counted towards the legally capped election costs.
That’s perhaps the lack of quality of fixed-date elections: we can’t say governments are taking advantage of the element of surprise, everyone knows the election is on October 3rd, so obviously there’s a pre-campaign.
Francois Legault, Prime Minister of Quebec
He confirmed his intention to visit the lieutenant governor later this month to dissolve the National Assembly and call for general elections.
“That will be at the end of August. Now the exact date, we’ll tell you when it’s finally fixed. »
“An occupation”
The lack of rules for pre-campaign spending is “concerning,” Quebec chief electoral officer Pierre Reid said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press. There is a need to “reconsider” and “update” the electoral law and put “a ceiling” on ad spend in the lead-up to the election, Mr. Reid suggested.
The Prime Minister said he was “open to discussion” while wondering about the timeframe.
“If we say [que] it’s a month before, will there be advertising two months before, three months before? There’s always a primary. »
It is “not just the CAQ” that deals with pre-election announcements, Mr Legault pleaded, stressing that “all political parties announce their candidates” and that some have already published their platform.
It’s too early for tax cuts
However, on the subject of possible tax cuts already promised by Dominique Anglade’s Liberal Party and Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party, the head of the CAQ judges believes it is “too early” to move forward.
“We have about 50 days until October 3, so I’ll have an opportunity to answer that question, but I’m open,” he said Friday.
According to Legault, 23,500 homes are missing
Within 10 years, 23,500 social and affordable housing units will be missing, said François Legault, citing estimates by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The CAQ has committed to covering almost half of this need within four years.
A “wet cracker,” denounced Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesman for Quebec Solidaire.
François Legault “didn’t even make good on his promise at the last election” and there are more like “37,000 people who are on the waiting list,” Mr Nadeau-Dubois said in a press release.
Since the 2018 election, 15,000 social and affordable housing units have been “funded” and “either built or under construction,” Mr Legault argued. He also called for caution with waiting lists “because there are doubles”.
The CAQ boss emphasized that the 11,700 residential units are planned “in a number of regions in Quebec”. In particular, if the announcement was made at Laval, it’s because his training hopes to “make gains there”.
Of the six CAQ candidates at Laval, only Sainte-Rose’s, Christopher Skeete, is currently deputy. Four other Ridings (Mille-Îles, Vimont, Fabre and Laval-des-Rapides) are organized by the Liberal Party. The sixth, Chomedey, is represented by independent MP Guy Ouellette, elected under the PLQ banner in the 2018 general election.
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2027 time when the shortage of so-called “normal” housing (not intended for those on low incomes) should have resolved itself, particularly given the record number of building permits currently being issued.
Source: Ministry of Finance quoted by Prime Minister François Legault