Nothing Can Justify Legault Government's Further Sellout of Quebec Resources
On February 4, the Quebec National Assembly held an "emergency debate" on the imposition of tariffs by the United States. It is clear from the transcript that the main objective of this debate was to take the initiative away from those calling for a new direction for Quebec. All cartel parties presented "solutions," each more pretentious than the previous, but all with the common aim of pursuing the economic direction that has brought us to where we are today, having fully abandoned nation-building and fully integrated into the war economy of the United States.
The
debate was opened by Premier François Legault, who spoke of
the
need to "redeploy the economy in a new way" and put to work "our
beautiful institutions [of the] Quebec model."[1]
He said that "we have a duty to undertake a great, long project to make our economy less dependent on the United States," and in Quebec "we are fortunate to have powerful state instruments, with the Caisse de Dépôt et de Placement."
What he doesn't mention is that the larger part of the assets of the Caisse de Depot et de Placement du Québec (CDPQ) are invested in the U.S., and that neither the CDPQ's administrators nor the government have any intention of changing that. The CDPQ managed $434 billion in assets as of the end of 2023. It is the second biggest investment fund in Canada. Its assets are the pension and retirement plans of Quebec workers, but it invests only 20 per cent of it in Quebec, compared with 38 per cent in the United States. CDPQ President and CEO Charles Emond confirmed in an interview with Radio-Canada on February 6 that the fund has no intention of "redeploying" its investments "in a new way." According to him, investing in U.S. companies brings a higher return than in Quebec, and the CDPQ's primary mission is "to seek the optimal return on depositors' capital," not to ensure Quebec's economic development.
Indeed, between 1997 and 2003, as part of the anti-social offensive, successive Quebec governments gradually changed the CDPQ's mission. Its primary mandate at the time of its creation was to support the economic development of Quebec, which mostly meant investing in education, health care and other social programs. The mandate was first broadened in 1997 by the Parti Québécois government to allow it to invest the majority of its assets in equities, including abroad. Then in 2003 the Liberal Party government definitively changed the CDPQ's mandate to make national economic development a second- or third-order objective.
The story of how all this came about, from the early 1960s to the present day, reveals that, despite the slogan of the Quiet Revolution, the people of Quebec have never been "masters in their own home." All decisions have been taken by governing elites in the service of powerful private interests, and that's what's happening now too.
To be "masters in their own home," the people of Quebec need to bring about a renewal of the political process that vests the people with sovereign decision-making power, and deprives powerful private interests and their political representatives of the power to subjugate everything to their own interests.
Note
1. The "Quebec model" refers to the Quebec version of the welfare state built during the so-called Quiet Revolution to strengthen state-monopoly capitalism. The state directly paid monopolies by expanding public health and education systems, large-scale unionization, major hydro-electric projects and the creation of public funds from pension plans to finance national economic development.
But all this was destroyed long ago. What is called the Quebec model was sacrificed when debt servicing demanded by the financial oligarchy fuelled the economic crisis and defunding of social programs and pay-the-rich schemes took over when oligarchic interests directly took over the decision-making powers of the state. The large private interests who profited immensely began to blame the welfare state for all society's ills. This led to the anti-social offensive that began in the 1980s, when society abandoned any notion of responsibility towards its members. François Legault is the latest in a succession of Quebec premiers who have presided over state disinvestment of health and education, accelerated the sell-off of natural resources, and privatized all sectors that offer opportunities for private profit at the expense of any societal pretensions.
This article was published in
Volume 55 Number 2 - February 2025
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/Articles/M550025.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca