PQ’s first 100 days: homelessness, gas tax and a minority

Quebec Premier-designate Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he will make a summit on homelessness and a freeze on politicians’ pay his first moves in office, and that a sovereignty referendum is not an immediate priority for his minority Parti Québécois government.

The PQ won 59 seats in the Oct. 5 election, five short of the 64 needed for a majority in the 125-seat National Assembly, Global News reported. The Liberals, led by Charles Milliard, took 40 seats, the Conservatives under Éric Duhaime 19, and Québec solidaire nine.

St-Pierre Plamondon had pledged to hold a referendum during a first mandate, but he told reporters after the vote that the province has “time” and “plenty of urgencies and problems to solve,” Global News reported. He said he would be premier of everyone in Quebec and plans to meet each opposition leader because he needs their support to pass legislation.

Milliard has said the Liberals would not support a referendum. Québec solidaire has said it will work to build support for independence but that the public must be on side. Prime Minister Mark Carney said it is a “crucial time” and not one to wait for something years down the road, according to the same report.

The party’s platform for its first 100 days, published on the PQ’s website on Oct. 3, lists an emergency special budget for homelessness, aimed especially at the winter, and a meeting of all groups working in the field. It does not set a dollar figure.

The platform also promises a cut in the provincial gas tax worth seven cents a litre, removal of the sales tax on used goods, and $100 million a year for four years for food banks, school breakfasts and lunches in disadvantaged areas, and meals for low-income seniors (translated from French).

A freeze on the pay of MNAs, ministers and the heads of major Crown corporations until the budget is balanced would be the subject of the first bill, according to the platform. A new secretariat for government efficiency and regulatory relief would review programs and audit information-technology projects in its first weeks.

On immigration, the PQ said it would draw up a new plan with lower thresholds that accounts for regional realities, without giving numbers. It also plans a states-general on education in winter 2027.

La Tribune reported on Oct. 6 that the incoming premier intends to name a cabinet smaller than the 29-member team of outgoing premier Christine Fréchette, with an announcement expected in the coming weeks. He has named Nadine Koussa as chief of staff and Frédéric Guay as secretary general of the executive council.

St-Pierre Plamondon also said he has asked for legal advice on keeping the lieutenant-governor out of the opening of the legislature and on removing royal assent from the legislative process, CTV News reported. Constitutional lawyer Frédéric Berard told CTV that abolishing the monarchy in Quebec unilaterally would be nearly impossible. The National Assembly session resumes Nov. 17.

Duhaime said his party expects to find common ground with the government on cutting taxes on used goods and reducing government spending, Global News reported.

Sources: Global News, Parti Québécois, La Tribune, CTV News.

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