“From now on, it will be zero tolerance,” on corruption, Pauline Marois says.
PQ plans charter of French language
QUEBEC — As promised, Premier Pauline Marois delivered an inaugural address Wednesday that targets corruption as she outlined the intentions of her Parti Québécois government for the coming two years.
But she also said the PQ would go ahead with a new charter of the French language “while respecting the anglophone community,” and raised the possibility of a new provincial budget in the fall “if necessary.”
The legislative menu Marois outlined would keep PQ promises for a summit on higher education, more daycare places, family doctors for all Quebecers, over time, and electrified transit. She appealed to the opposition parties, who control the fate of her minority government, to work with her.
But the premier quietly dropped some controversial PQ ideas, such as citizen-initiated referendums and offered “consultations,” which would delay adoption of a charter of secularism banning non-Christian religious signs, while allowing the display of the Christian cross, as part of Quebec’s heritage.
In raising the possibility of a fall budget, Marois said the former Liberal government, “did not respect the financial framework that it set for itself,” and in future, “the gap between revenues and expenses will grow rapidly.”
“If we delay acting, the situation will only get worse and in a few years we will be obliged to make painful cuts in our public services,” Marois said in her speech opening Quebec’s 40th legislature.
The premier noted that some public-sector contracts cost 80 per cent more than projected.
“This is completely unacceptable,” she told the assembly. “We are going to tighten up the rules of management.”
“Zero tolerance” toward corruption is the PQ position, she said, and the financing of political parties would be mostly public, in response to testimony before the Charbonneau Commission into corruption, which has uncovered details of the role of organized crime, bid rigging and illegal funding of political parties.
The PQ’s Bill 1, to be introduced Thursday, would oblige companies seeking public contracts to prove their honesty and integrity.
“With this law there will be no loopholes,” Marois said.
The PQ government would limit the role of the transport department to planning, orientations and overall policy.
A new transport agency, similar to what exists in other provinces, would handle operations and would hire experienced engineers. Quebec’s auditor general found that qualified engineers were hired away from the department, which then had to rely on the same privatesector companies bidding on contracts for engineering expertise.
Interim Liberal leader Jean-Marc Fournier called the Marois speech “improvisation.”
“There is nothing about the economy,” Fournier said, adding that Marois did not say how she will pay for her new promises.
He was “really surprised” Marois wanted to reopen the language issue, noting that more allophones are speaking French at home and recalling that Lucien Bouchard, the PQ premier who resigned in 2000, declared in a speech to Montreal anglophones that the province had achieved linguistic peace.
“Why a new war?” Fournier asked.
François Legault, leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec, said for all her talk about fighting corruption, Marois did not mention Montreal and Laval, whose mayors have come under scrutiny at the Charbonneau Commission.
“Is she living on another planet?” Legault asked.
The CAQ leader also deplored the silence of Marois on limits to election spending, explaining that the present $11.5-million ceiling is an invitation to the corrupt practices revealed in Charbonneau testimony, suggesting a $4.5-million maximum on election spending for each party.
Legault said in tossing out the possibility of a fall budget, without clearly stating her intention, Marois was sowing confusion.
And he called on the PQ leader to go ahead with her election promise to eliminate the $200-a-head health tax, as a way to give Quebec’s economy a boost.
Legault said the PQ could recover the $950 million through spending cuts.
Québec solidaire also supports the health-tax cut. QS MNA Françoise David said Marois could “tax the rich,” to raise new revenues.