“But the liberal brand is no longer good!” »
Posted at 6:00 am
Éric Bédard had not expected this reaction. The year is 2010. The historian has just been listening to François Legault unveil his project to create a nationalist party that would give up independence to give priority to the economy and education.
Mr. Bédard, his former speechwriter, asks him why he doesn’t just join the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ). He jokes, but his former boss takes him seriously. As if he had thought about it at least for a few moments.
The anecdote is told in the excellent magazine L’Inconvénient.
A lot has happened since then. Politics has changed, and so has Mr. Legault. Still, history shows how much the CAQ leader envied the PLQ its self-proclaimed title of “Party of Business”.
Like all slogans, it is reductive. At best, it is synonymous with “a party that attracts candidates from business circles.”
Nobody is against the economy. The question is rather what the caquist’s economic thoughts are.
Mr Legault’s answer has evolved. He adapted to the circumstances.
Headquarters moves don’t make as many headlines anymore.
The threat hasn’t gone away, as evidenced by the sale of Resolute Forest Products and Domtar to a company owned by an Indonesian businessman. And nobody in Quebec could buy Rona, which was just sold at a discount by the American company Lowe’s. Overall, however, we are less concerned about our “flagships” – a term that is quite vague.
So where is the economic color of the CAQ now?
Closing the per capita income gap with Ontario is not Mr. Legault’s obsession. While emotionally involved, its purpose isn’t all that different from its predecessors. Everyone tried in his own way to increase wealth.
An old current in the PLQ advocated a less interventionist approach. It is better to create the conditions conducive to attracting business, for example by reducing capital taxes, without deciding which ones to encourage. For the rest, it was up to the market to do the work.
Mr. Legault is more in line with Bernard Landry, founder of Investissement Québec. The caquistes have doubled the size of this state enterprise. His role has also changed. She no longer functions as a simple banker. She accompanies companies more than ever.
She was modeled after her minister in charge, Pierre Fitzgibbon, a former director and investor in small growth companies, a different profile from that of his Liberal predecessors such as the late banker Jacques Daoust.
Mr. Fitzgibbon multiplies the deals as if he were still in business. He likes to use “forgivable loans” – a subsidy that is linked to certain conditions. This unrestrained and riskier interventionism differs from liberal philosophy. And it is light-years away from a fiscal conservatism that Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party now defends alone.
CAQ interventionism is also reflected in the prioritization of specific sectors. Much like Mr. Landry bet on video games and multimedia, Caquists are investing heavily in electric vehicle batteries.
But nationalism is catching up with them. Well, against yourself, besides…
Gone are the days when politicians won elections by promising jobs. Mr. Legault was one of the last to stick to this outdated speech.
Businesses today are looking for workers to function and grow. Governments try to help them. And they have wanted to secure supply chains in strategic sectors since the pandemic began. That explains why Ottawa was so keen to open a factory for the pharmaceutical company Moderna here.
But there is one ingredient to such investments that is not secret. It takes… people.
Quebec won’t make it. He needs workers. There is no magic solution. We need to combine several of them. Encourage older people to extend their careers. Increase productivity. Requalify employees in less popular sectors. And attract immigrants.
During the last mandate we have noticed a segmentation of these files. And also discomfort. Immigration was often seen as a threat. But it can also be an asset. Provided they can train, house and francize these newcomers.
This dossier needs to be integrated into an overall vision where we sit around the table discussing business, education and training, recognition of qualifications, housing and tax breaks. After all, what is the use of opening the Nemaska lithium plant in Bécancour if the workers have no place to sleep?
During the next term, the CAQ’s economic nationalism will be articulated differently. In fact, it will take the form of a question: Can Mr. Legault advance nationalism and the economy at the same time?
To answer yes, departments need to work on the same team more than ever.