Legault pledges cash for caregivers, respite homes
On environment front, CAQ leader calls for ramping up hydro dam construction
COWANSVILLE A promise to caregivers, a call for more hydroelectric dams and a candidate withdrawing in scandal: Day 13 of the election campaign was a busy one for CAQ Leader François Legault.
At a press conference in Thetford Mines Tuesday morning, the Coalition Avenir Québec pledged $93 million to help support caregivers and promised to invest in more support centres across the province.
Legault announced that if his party is elected on Oct. 1, caregivers would be able to claim a $2,500 tax credit from the government, up from $1,176. A sizable increase but still not a large amount, considering some caregivers cannot work a normal job because they ’re caring for a disabled loved one.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Legault said. “It’s an important amount.”
According to the party, there are approximately 1.6 million Quebec caregivers — those who spend at least 10 hours per week caring for loved ones who can’t care for themselves. That could be a child with an intellectual disability, an aging parent or even a sick neighbour.
The party also pledged to support the Fondation Maison GillesCarle by building an additional 20 respite residences for caregivers over the next 10 years. A respite house is a place where caregivers can bring their disabled or ill loved ones during normal work hours, or drop them off during weekends to have some time to themselves.
The Fondation Maison GillesCarle currently has only one respite centre, in Cowansville.
Legault visited the centre Tuesday afternoon. There, he was greeted by a smiling circle of volunteers, who joined hands with him and sang a song.
Christelle Bogosta, executive director of the centre, said that support from the government would allow the organization to take in more people, particularly on weekends, when they have only four beds available. “We’re missing about $120,000 to operate at full capacity,” she said. Bogosta said the community came together to build the respite house, raising $340,000 to help pay for it. She said the organization could offer double what they do now if they had adequate funding. Bogosta reached out to the current Liberal government but hasn’t received a followup. According to the foundation, more respite centres are in the works across the province: in Boucherville, Grand-Mère, Montreal and elsewhere. Legault also faced a stream of questions Tuesday about his party’s environmental policy — or lack thereof. The best thing Quebec could do for the environment would be to export hydroelectric power to the world, he said. Legault said a CAQ government would continue to develop hydroelectric power across the province. Right now, Hydro-Québec produces an excess amount of energy, some of which will be sold to Massachusetts — but Legault thinks the province can sell more — possibly to New York. If that happens, it would open up the door to building more dams, according to the CAQ leader. “It’s better for the environment and it’s less costly than the other types of energy,” he said. “We’re lucky we have dams with hydroelectricity. We could add more dams. What’s important is to replace gas and coal and nuclear.” But not with wind energy. The CAQ was criticized by Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard Tuesday, who said that Legault’s lack of support for the Apuait wind farm illustrated a lack of support for the First Nations communities who want the project to go ahead. Legault said Couillard didn’t understand economics and was just trying to win votes on the North Shore. To finish off the day, Stéphane Laroche, CAQ candidate for StJean, withdrew his candidacy Tuesday evening after a scathing report from The Canadian Press. The article, published earlier in the day, revealed that Laroche was the owner of the pub O’Bock in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, a bar that admitted minors and paid female staff members less than their male counterparts. The CAQ said via communiqué Tuesday evening that Laroche was not transparent on his candidate application and was asked to withdraw from the election campaign.