No big-ticket items, lower deficit in Quebec's modest pre-election budget
CBC
With the looming October election, Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard has delivered a modest budget as the province aims to withstand ongoing trade disruptions and mounting geopolitical pressure.
In line with Girard's promise, his eighth provincial budget with the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government offers no big-ticket items or bells and whistles typically associated with a pre-electoral budget.
With the conservative spending, this year's projected deficit is lower than expected, standing at $9.9 billion (or 1.5 per cent of GDP), including payments to the Generations Fund. That's down from an expected $12.4 billion projected late last year.
For the 2026-27 fiscal year, the projected deficit of the $170.8-billion budget is $8.6 billion.
"The economic foundations of Quebec are solid," Girard said, emphasizing that the province is faring better financially than the rest of Canada.
However, many of the intended expenses outlined in the 2026-27 budget are based on the assumption that the average U.S. tariff rate will remain relatively stable in the coming years and that current tariffs will become permanent.
Moreover, the budget factors in the recent rise in oil prices while assuming that the situation will be temporary and will ease in the coming months.
The provincial election in October and the ongoing CAQ leadership race following Premier François Legault's resignation might also limit the long-term applicability of the fiscal plans outlined — challenges Girard acknowledged.
"Every budget is a major headache," Girard told reporters in Quebec City. "This one had additional complexities in terms of timing and the leadership race. But I'm very proud of what we're doing."
Having a "plan beats no plan," he added.
Pascal Paradis, Parti Québécois (PQ) MNA for Jean-Talon, mocked the budget, saying its lifespan will last three weeks.
"What we want is the budget plan of the future premier — and that is not what we are getting today," Paradis said.
He also criticized the budget for lacking promises to reduce the price of gas for Quebecers.
The PQ has been demanding a reduction in the gasoline tax for over a year — well before the conflict in the Middle East — to correct the "inequity" between gas prices paid in Quebec and those paid elsewhere in Canada since the elimination of the carbon tax by Prime Minister Mark Carney, he said.
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