Canadian Prime Minister Francois Legault Abolishes MPs’ Bonus Amidst Rising Financial Pressures and Potential Strikes

Faced with the prospect of strikes in the public sector and in a context where financial pressures are increasing on the government, Prime Minister François Legault announced on Friday the abolition of a bonus of $125 per day paid to MPs, whose remuneration jumped 30% after a controversial increase in June.

Closing a two-day meeting of his deputies, in anticipation of the return of parliament, Mr. Legault confided his concerns during a press conference.

The Prime Minister fears disruptions from certain unions who will have the right to go on strike at the end of the month. “I still have concerns when I hear certain union leaders threaten a strike,” he said.

Mr. Legault invited union members to be reasonable in the face of the government’s offers, which propose to compensate for the rise in inflation with a salary increase of 11.5% over five years.

“Our salary offers cover inflation. It’s very important and we have to be reasonable,” he declared, refusing to negotiate in public.

The Prime Minister targeted the Interprofessional Health Federation of Quebec (FIQ), which represents nurses in particular and whose demands he denounces.

“Obviously there are unions like the FIQ which are asking us for increases of 24%,” he said. Quite honestly, we manage Quebecers’ money. We don’t have the capacity to pay there. We are in deficit and there is no question of increasing taxes. »

Mr. Legault stressed the importance of granting incentives to have nurses on night shifts and in the regions, which the FIQ would oppose.

“I know that unions like the FIQ want Labatt Bleue for everyone, wall to wall, the same increase,” he noted.

After a caucus marked by lively exchanges with mayors gathered for a summit on taxation in Montreal, Mr. Legault used the same argument for their financial demands as for the unions.

“If we think that we are going to solve all the problems by giving more money from the Quebec government to the municipalities, there is no room for maneuver, there is no question of increasing taxes,” said he declared.

Retreat on a premium

After defending the status quo on Thursday, Mr. Legault affirmed that MPs, whose remuneration recently jumped by 30%, from $101,561 to $131,766, will have to give up an allowance which was added to this sum.

“I spoke about it with our deputies and we unanimously decided, our whip will take a resolution to the Office of the National Assembly to abolish these bonuses of $125 which are paid when commissions are outside of times when the National Assembly headquarters. »

On Thursday, the chief government whip, Éric Lefebvre, nevertheless affirmed that the remuneration file was closed.

Mr. Legault remained vague on the reasons for this about-face. He simply stated that opposition parties called for its abolition on Thursday, after he defended it.

“We have two parties, the Parti Québécois and the Liberal Party who say “we are ready to abolish it”, so I think that changes the perspective. »

A member of Quebec Solidaire, Étienne Grandmont, did the same Thursday, after the PQ and the Liberals.

THURSDAY, The duty recalled the existence of this bonus still in force despite the 30% increase voted by deputies in June.

Two former presidents of the National Assembly, Jean-Pierre Charbonneau and Jacques Chagnon, judged that it was no longer justified, an argument which did not, from the outset, obtain the support of the Prime Minister.

Inflation

François Legault repeated his intention to continue to help the population cope with inflation. His MPs were expected to discuss it over the past two days, including how to help certain targeted groups who could be more affected, despite his government’s decisions such as sending checks.

“Should we do more? This is the question that has been debated a lot. Our 89 MPs are well aware that there are people who have trouble arriving when the time comes to buy groceries, pay the rent or renegotiate their mortgage on their house. »

Mr. Legault recalled his government’s decisions to improve the financial situation of taxpayers.

“We just lowered taxes, people have surely seen it on their paychecks since the 1^is July,” he said.

On Thursday, the Bank of Canada recalled that it should perhaps, after a pause announced this week, raise its key rate in the face of rising inflation forecasts.

“There are a lot of unknowns in the coming months, the Bank of Canada is trying to lower inflation,” said the Prime Minister.

Construction et immigration

The labor shortage and the scale of future construction projects require the establishment of paid training and conversion programs that will make it possible to add workers to construction sites.

Prime Minister Legault affirmed that needs have increased for government infrastructure projects, the value of which has increased from $100 billion to $150 billion since the election of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).

The housing shortage, the need to increase Hydro-Québec’s production capacity and private projects in the battery sector point to major labor needs in construction.

“We must be able to build more and build faster our schools, our hospitals, our public transport, our housing, Hydro-Québec, the factories. We are going to need many, many people,” said Mr. Legault without setting a staffing objective.

While consultations are beginning on a proposal to raise immigration thresholds from 50,000 to 60,000 people per year, Mr. Legault has not commented on his preference.

“There are labor needs, but at the same time it is non-negotiable to protect French,” he said.

Satisfaction et courage

Mr. Legault philosophically received a survey, published by The sun Fridayshowing that the satisfaction of half of Quebecers has declined with the CAQ government.

“I am not here to win a popularity contest, I am here to work for the best interest of Quebecers,” he said.

The Prime Minister reiterated that it is not easy to do politics at the moment, with the effects of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine still being felt.

Thursday evening, during an activist rally, Mr. Legault told an anecdote from the time he was a PQ minister in the government of Lucien Bouchard.

“Lucien Bouchard said: when you are in politics, you have a bag of courage, you draw from it. At some point there are none left in the bag. »

According to the Prime Minister, you have to choose your reasons carefully to dip into the bag of courage.

“Usually we draw from the bag at the start of the mandate. We are still at the start of our mandate, so we will continue to dip into the bag of courage this fall to continue to change things in Quebec,” he said.

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