Letter to the Editor

Stop Paying the Rich to Build a Truly Public Health Care System

Sonia Lebel, President of the Quebec Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Government Administration, has used social networks to once again attempt to create the illusion that she and her government are acting in good faith and for the public interest in this period of negotiations. On November 19, on X, she posted a video, with dramatic music, in which she tried to undermine the immense popular support enjoyed by public sector workers by making them out to be extortionists of public wealth. She said (referring to the wage increases offered to 600,000 workers): "[W]e put 8 billion on the table, it's the citizens' money, it's serious...."

No one is fooled by the government's self-interested view of the use of the wealth created by Quebec workers, which says that investing in public services in line with the demands of those who work in them is an unaffordable cost, but a real investment when it comes to making billions of dollars available to private interests. The $15 billion allocated to the battery industry and the recent decree 1529-2023, dated October 18, which raised the limit applicable to the borrowing plan instituted by Investissement Québec as manager of the Economic Development Fund (EDF) -- the government's main tool for supporting businesses -- from $3.71 billion to $5.65 billion, are just two recent examples.

I want to tell all public sector workers that Sonia LeBel and the government don't speak for me! Education and health care workers are the ones defending a Quebec economy oriented to serve its people!

A Reader in Montreal

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This article was published in

Number 60 - December 3, 2023

Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2023/Articles/WO10606.HTM

Website:  www.cpcml.ca   Email:  editor@cpcml.ca