Quebec Government's Pay-the-Rich Schemes
Corruption of Cartel Party Governments Further Revealed
On December 14, the Journal de Montréal published an investigative article on the "aid" provided to businesses by the Legault government since it came to power in 2018.
The
Le Journal reports:
"Quebec taxpayers' money has literally been raining down on businesses since François Legault came to power, while his government has given them 67 per cent more financial aid than Philippe Couillard's government provided.
"From October 2018 to last June, the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE), headed by Pierre Fitzgibbon, awarded more than $14.9 billion in aid of all kinds to businesses, investment funds and non-profit organizations.
"In less than six years, the MEIE has therefore invested more in businesses than it would cost to build 370 primary schools (using an average price of $40 million per project)."
The list of the 50 largest MEIE beneficiaries of state aid, which includes the total amounts received in loans, investments and subsidies since October 2018, has been published and can be viewed here.
According to the article, the average monthly total paid in loans, subsidies and various investments from the MEIE is more than $216 million. Annually, government expenditures amount to more than $1.6 billion. Northvolt, which tops the list, having received $508 million, just filed for bankruptcy protection. The battery sector, with financial support from the federal government, Investissement Québec and others of over $1.3 billion, is the sector that has received the most aid from the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government, more than forestry ($1.2 billion) and aeronautics ($1.2 billion including the $413 million granted to Airbus last July).
"Let us note that of the $14.9 billion in business aid granted by the CAQ government, nearly $5.5 billion (37 per cent) was granted outside of standardized programs, under exceptions authorized for 'projects that are of significant economic interest to Quebec,'" the article adds.
Workers know from their own experience that the claim that these handouts to businesses are to ensure job creation, is a total fraud that creates growing insecurity in their lives. They are left at the mercy of these large companies that come and go, with all the blackmail they use to enrich themselves and the complicity of the government. Workers have their own experience of the consequences of paying the rich as an economic development strategy, as well as the false dichotomy between environmental protection and job creation, and deeper integration of Canada into the U.S. war economy.
What is needed is a new direction for the economy, a change of direction to focus on nation-building and meeting the needs of the people. The people must become the decision-makers to make this happen. Narrow private interests, often foreign, must be replaced as the decision-makers concerning the use of Quebec's vast resources, what Quebec produces and the trade relations it establishes with other countries.
(With files from Le Journal, Bureau d'enquête, MEIE; translated from original French by TML)
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 12 - December 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M5401213.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca