The Quebec government wants to get major infrastructures projects back up and running, putting more people back to work, in an effort to relaunch the province’s economy nearly three months into the COVID-19 crisis.
If passed, Bill 61, the stimulus package tabled Wednesday by Treasury Board President Christian Dubé, will allow the government to bypass some of the usual checks and balances for major spending projects, to get them off the ground as soon as possible.
The proposed legislation streamlines some of the provisions under Quebec’s Environment Quality Act, in order to obtain speedy authorization to move ahead with certain projects, and allows government ministries to move ahead quickly with the expropriation of property.
Dubé said at a news conference Wednesday that doesn’t mean the province would skirt around environmental laws, but would simply allow the government to be “more agile.”
“If a species is endangered, we will not go there,” said Dubé.
He said all major projects identified by the Ministry of Environment would still need to be evaluated by Quebec’s environmental review board, known as the BAPE.
“But if there is an environmental review,” he said, “could we possibly accelerate the steps to get to the BAPE?”
Bill 61 would apply to 202 projects that were already included in the 2020-2030 Quebec Infrastructure Plan — for example, the extension of the Montreal Metro’s Blue Line and the construction of a bridge between Quebec City and l’Île d’Orléans.
In addition to road-building and public transit projects, Dubé said, the government wants to press ahead with the renovation of schools, as well as the construction of 48 new long-term care homes across the province.
“I think everyone realizes that we need to provide seniors with an environment that is different than the ones offered in CHSLDs,” Dubé said.
Quebec Treasury Board President Christian Dubé says the government wants to strip away some of the bureaucracy surrounding the awarding of public contracts to allow major infrastructure projects to move ahead quickly. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
Skipping tenders is backward step, opposition warns
The bill also includes an amendment that would extend Quebec’s public health emergency indefinitely. The decree, originally declared in mid-March, allows the government to make purchases for items such as medical supplies without going to tender.
Dubé said he would like that status maintained for the next two years, in order to follow through on public health infrastructure projects, for example, the renovation of regional hospitals.
“We want to have time to see these projects through to the end,” he said.
Québec Solidaire’s critic for labour and public security, Alexandre Leduc, said he’s concerned the bill could threaten the government’s independence in the awarding of public contracts.
“We have to respect the rules that we’ve put in place following the Charbonneau commission,” Leduc said. That inquiry, led by Superior Court Justice France Charbonneau, exposed corruption in the bidding process for government construction projects.
Dubé said the legacy of the Charbonneau report would not be threatened, because the government would be addressing administrative delays but not the way public contracts are managed.
“I think this crisis could help us become more efficient when it comes to giving out contracts,” he said.
Auditor general issues warning
Quebec Auditor General Guylaine Leclerc isn’t convinced Quebec has the ability to do so. In her report, also released Wednesday, Leclerc underscored that Quebec is already having a hard time recruiting the engineers and technicians it needs to monitor public infrastructure projects.
Quebec Auditor General Guylaine Leclerc, who tabled her report on June 3, 2020, said the province isn’t recruiting enough engineers and technicians to supervise the infrastructure projects it wants built. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
“There is challenge for the Ministry of Transport to be sure that they have the competency to be able to supervise the private firms and adequately evaluate contracts and projects,” Leclerc said.
The finance minister said with the economic slowdown, many engineers working in the private sector will be in the job market — offering the government a solution to that problem.
“The position the Ministry of Transport is in right now when it comes to hiring engineers is completely different from what it was in February 2020,” Girard said.
Economic update on June 19
With unemployment hovering around 17 per cent for the month of April, Girard said Quebec needs to get the economy moving again — and fast.
“These are projects Quebec needs,” said Girard. “While there are fewer people on the roads and the workforce is available, we have to move on this.”
The government wants the bill to be adopted by the end of the session, on June 12. Girard will be providing an update on Quebec’s economy on June 19. After a record surplus in March 2020, he is expecting Quebec will run a deficit in its next budget.
“We want to give as precisely as possible the state of the economy and the finances,” he said.
OTTAWA – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the government is making some changes to mortgage rules to help more Canadians to purchase their first home.
She says the changes will come into force in December and better reflect the housing market.
The price cap for insured mortgages will be boosted for the first time since 2012, moving to $1.5 million from $1 million, to allow more people to qualify for a mortgage with less than a 20 per cent down payment.
The government will also expand its 30-year mortgage amortization to include first-time homebuyers buying any type of home, as well as anybody buying a newly built home.
On Aug. 1 eligibility for the 30-year amortization was changed to include first-time buyers purchasing a newly-built home.
Justice Minister Arif Virani is also releasing drafts for a bill of rights for renters as well as one for homebuyers, both of which the government promised five months ago.
Virani says the government intends to work with provinces to prevent practices like renovictions, where landowners evict tenants and make minimal renovations and then seek higher rents.
The government touts today’s announced measures as the “boldest mortgage reforms in decades,” and it comes after a year of criticism over high housing costs.
The Liberals have been slumping in the polls for months, including among younger adults who say not being able to afford a house is one of their key concerns.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose 1.4 per cent to $71 billion in July, helped by higher sales in the petroleum and coal and chemical product subsectors.
The increase followed a 1.7 per cent decrease in June.
The agency says sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector gained 6.7 per cent to total $8.6 billion in July as most refineries sold more, helped by higher prices and demand.
Chemical product sales rose 5.3 per cent to $5.6 billion in July, boosted by increased sales of pharmaceutical and medicine products.
Sales of wood products fell 4.8 per cent for the month to $2.9 billion, the lowest level since May 2023.
In constant dollar terms, overall manufacturing sales rose 0.9 per cent in July.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets climbed to their best week of the year.
“It’s been almost a complete opposite or retracement of what we saw last week,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at IG Wealth Management.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
While last week saw a “healthy” pullback on weaker economic data, this week investors appeared to be buying the dip and hoping the central bank “comes to the rescue,” said Petursson.
Next week, the U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate for the first time in several years after it significantly hiked it to fight inflation.
But the magnitude of that first cut has been the subject of debate, and the market appears split on whether the cut will be a quarter of a percentage point or a larger half-point reduction.
Petursson thinks it’s clear the smaller cut is coming. Economic data recently hasn’t been great, but it hasn’t been that bad either, he said — and inflation may have come down significantly, but it’s not defeated just yet.
“I think they’re going to be very steady,” he said, with one small cut at each of their three decisions scheduled for the rest of 2024, and more into 2025.
“I don’t think there’s a sense of urgency on the part of the Fed that they have to do something immediately.
A larger cut could also send the wrong message to the markets, added Petursson: that the Fed made a mistake in waiting this long to cut, or that it’s seeing concerning signs in the economy.
It would also be “counter to what they’ve signaled,” he said.
More important than the cut — other than the new tone it sets — will be what Fed chair Jerome Powell has to say, according to Petursson.
“That’s going to be more important than the size of the cut itself,” he said.
In Canada, where the central bank has already cut three times, Petursson expects two more before the year is through.
“Here, the labour situation is worse than what we see in the United States,” he said.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
