Quebec Parties Clash Over Fiscal Plans And Affordability
- Fréchette revealed that election promises will cost close to $10 billion over the next five years.
- Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime argued that the CAQ relies on a big-government model that prioritizes spending over leaving money in taxpayers' pockets.
- Housing emerged as a major battleground on Sunday, with both the Quebec Liberal Party and Québec solidaire putting forward new policy proposals to protect tenants.
Fréchette revealed that election promises will cost close to $10 billion over the next five years. Fréchette also challenged rival political leaders to release their own fiscal frameworks early.
Opponents quickly criticized the CAQ’s fiscal approach. Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime argued that the CAQ relies on a big-government model that prioritizes spending over leaving money in taxpayers’ pockets. Meanwhile, Québec solidaire (QS) parliamentary leader Ruba Ghazal labeled the CAQ’s plan irresponsible and likened it to austerity.
Housing affordability and rent caps spark debate
Housing emerged as a major battleground on Sunday, with both the Quebec Liberal Party and Québec solidaire putting forward new policy proposals to protect tenants. Liberal Leader Charles Milliard promised to cap rent increases at private seniors’ residences, known as RPAs, and shift the legal burden onto the residences themselves. Under the Liberal policy, if an RPA proposes an increase above the established cap, the housing tribunal would review the hike automatically, sparing seniors from having to mount a formal legal challenge.
I think it makes no sense that people who pay taxes for 40, 50, 60, 70 years have to go through this additional burden,Milliard said to reporters in the Jean-Lesage district, according to Radio-Canada. Milliard added that private seniors’ residences would not be permitted to cut essential care services to comply with the rent cap. According to Liberal party figures, rent costs in private home care have risen by 18 percent over the past four years.
Québec solidaire countered with a seven-point housing plan aimed at addressing the province’s ongoing rental and homelessness crisis. Ghazal criticized the CAQ for its perceived inaction, pointing to prior statements from Fréchette suggesting that vacancy rates mean the housing crisis is resolved in several regions. QS’s proposed measures include a national rental unit registry, stricter limits on evictions and renovictions, a crackdown on illegal Airbnb rentals, and a province-wide push for social housing and neighborhood densification.
Tax cuts and the Parti Québécois language focus
The Conservative Party of Quebec continued its push for direct tax relief, announcing its fourth tax-cutting measure of the campaign. Duhaime stated that a Conservative government would eliminate the Quebec sales tax (QST) on used goods, including thrifted clothing. The party has campaigned heavily on reducing the overall tax burden on individuals and cutting government spending.
Meanwhile, Parti Québécois (PQ) Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon charted a distinct course on the fourth day of the campaign, focusing heavily on protecting the French language. St-Pierre Plamondon proposed extending the Charter of the French Language, or Bill 101, to CEGEPs and to the children of temporary immigrants who stay in Quebec for longer than a year. Describing the situation as a linguistic emergency, the PQ leader argued that stricter immigration management is tied directly to preserving the province’s cultural identity, drawing sharp pushback from political opponents who accused him of using immigrants as scapegoats in election rhetoric.