Charles Milliard says the Liberal Party of Quebec wants to make the economy, not popularity, the central issue of the next election campaign. Speaking in the Eastern Townships and later at a general council meeting in Sherbrooke, the Quebec Liberal leader argued that politics should be a “competition of rationality” aimed at putting Quebec “in the right place,” while criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for repeated announcements and policies he said amount to putting a burden on Quebecers’ credit cards.
At the party’s final general council before the campaign, Liberals focused on a single theme: the economy. Milliard said the Quebec Liberal Party is reclaiming its role as “the only real economic party in Quebec” after eight years of Coalition Avenir Québec economic nationalism. He presented the economy as the party’s main path back to power and called for Quebec to “become a production economy again” through reindustrialization.
One of the main measures announced by Milliard was a gradual reduction in the small business tax rate from 11.5% to 10%. The proposal comes a little more than a month after Economy Minister Christine Fréchette announced another tax cut for small and medium-sized businesses that is expected to affect 75,000 companies. Liberal MNA Frédéric Beauchemin noted during a panel that SMEs generate three-quarters of Quebec’s GDP, underscoring their importance to the province’s economy.
The Liberal leader also promised to crack down on “red tape and overregulation.” He said that if elected, his government would impose an immediate moratorium on any new regulation likely to increase the administrative burden on SMEs. During an informal show of hands among party members on Saturday, a large majority reportedly said deregulation should be the priority over future tax or sales-tax cuts.
Milliard framed his economic message as a challenge to what he called Quebec’s “culture of economic no,” arguing that too many projects are being blocked. He said the role of the premier and cabinet should be that of “chief developers” who create a business-friendly environment. However, when asked for concrete examples of projects he believes have been stopped, he did not provide any.
He also signaled that the party will soon unveil a new forestry policy aimed at being more favorable to businesses. On language policy, Milliard declined to go into detail, saying his plan on French will be presented before June 21.
