The vagueness in Marois’s inaugural address

In her inaugural address to Quebec’s 40th legislature, Pauline Marois laid out an ambitious agenda for a government whose minority standing suggests it will have a limited life span.

Minority governments are fortunate to last more than two years in office, yet the plan for Parti Québécois governance that the premier laid out is crammed with enough undertakings to occupy an administration for more than even a full standard term in office.

As one commentator suggested in advance of the speech, her imperative was to be conciliatory, inspiring and reassuring, and to a considerable extent her presentation measured up on all three counts. She presented a number of inspirational objectives on which there should be agreement across party lines, and she was reassuring to the extent that she was vague on matters some might find alarming.

It is hard to disagree that measures must be taken to counter the rampant corruption that is being revealed in testimony before the Charbonneau Commission. It is true that the commission will take another year to deliver its recommendations, but the revelations even at this early stage are such that the public wants some action taken sooner rather than later.

A bill requiring bidders for public works contracts to prove their ethical bona fides and closing loopholes in current legislation is a welcome first order of business. The proposal for an agency that will oversee public works in the transportation sector, staffed by engineers qualified to evaluate and control costs, and which is transparent and accountable in its operations, is a promising innovation.

The proposed fixed election dates are also welcome, but not so much an innovation as Quebec catching up with other jurisdictions, including the federal level. An independent audit of government finances to be made public before elections would also be in the public interest and should elicit broad support. So should a proposed independent inquiry office with civilian oversight to investigate police shootings as well as complaints against police.

There was much to inspire the imagination: a new Nordic development secretariat to oversee sustainable exploitation of natural resources in northern regions; the revitalization of the forestry industry by promoting wood as a major building material; an economic development bank; promotion of energy independence and a 25 per cent cut in greenhouse-gas emissions; promotion of agriculture to the point where Quebec is self-sufficient in food supply; a place in subsidized daycare for all children; family doctors for an additional 750,000 Quebecers; 3,000 new subsidized housing units, and much more.

However, there was a pervasive vagueness on how all of these projects and new agencies would be financed, apart from optimistic projections as to business investment and enhanced exports. Access to higher education was set forth as a government priority, but there was no information on how universities are to be financed after the cancellation of tuition increases. There was also no precise word on when there will be a new budget; maybe this fall, or maybe not.

On the one hand, alarm bells were sounded about the “decline of French” in Montreal and the Outaouais, while on the other the anglophone community was hailed as a vital part of Quebec society. A new charter of the French language was advertised, but no mention was made of specific measures, such as the controversial proposal to extend public school restrictions to CEGEPs. The same goes for the secular charter that the PQ talked up in opposition. There was brash talk of governing in a sovereignist spirit, but no mention of a possible referendum.

While there was much to like about the government’s plan, there was much to wonder about as well.