Charest in Election Mode Already

Yesterday Jean Charest was boasting about the way he managed Quebec’s finances and how it had garnered him a rating of Aa2 by Moody’s. You would expect him to be crying over the fact he is so short on money that he cannot pay for the services Quebecers need like, I don’t know, say, a properly funded health care system.

People will say that there cannot be a fiscal imbalance because the Quebec government is in such good financial shape. If the province really needs money, all it has to do is raise taxes. They have the power to do it, but not the political will I guess…

Along comes the super rich federal government, with 9 consecutive monster surpluses. Is it up to the federal government to give their surpluses to the provinces? Nope. But, how did the federal government get rich? On the backs of the provinces, with the CHST.

That is why there is a fiscal imbalance. Because money was cut and not restored. Now, how can the provinces be in such good shape? It is not normal of a province to go about in chronic deficits whining that they cannot possibly function. Who suffers? People who need medical service, students who are seeing the quality of their universities go down or outside Quebec, their tuition rising, people at the lowest income level in society, who have seen welfare cut and EI restrictions made more strict. They suffer. So while arguments can be made against the existence of the so-called fiscal imbalance, the repercussions of the so-called problem are being felt day after day. What people need to do is stop boasting and start working.