Quebec Liberal leadership race: Karl Blackburn shares his ‘big ideas’

Quebec Liberal leadership candidate Karl Blackburn shares his vision for the province with CJAD 800 Radio.

Rebuild the economy through business tax cuts and immigration, attract and retain international talent and fix the healthcare system by working collaboratively with healthcare workers.

These are some of the “big ideas” Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) leadership hopeful Karl Blackburn says he wants to focus on.

The businessman and former head of the Quebec Employers Council (Conseil du patronat du Québec) sat down with CJAD 800 Radio host Elias Makos to make his case about wanting to lead the oldest political party in Quebec.

Some answers have been edited for clarity.

Elias Makos: It’s our pleasure to welcome Karl Blackburn to CJAD. Mr. Blackburn, welcome to the show. We want big, bold ideas. What is that bold idea? Maybe the top-of-mind bold idea that you’re bringing to the Quebec Liberal leadership race.

Karl Blackburn: Economy—everything is about the economy. We need a strong economy to be able to reconnect with our healthcare system and our education system. For me, without a stronger economy, nothing is possible. That’s why I strongly represent a vision based on the economy. And, of course, if the Quebec Liberal Party wants to be in government again, we need to reconnect with Francophones and the regions. I’m from Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. I know the Quebec Liberal Party well. I know the members and the members know me. That’s exactly what I’m proposing in this race. Personally, I believe I’m the most complete candidate to reconnect the party with both the economy and the regions.

Makos: But how would you do it? Do you have an idea on how to reshape, redraw the Quebec economy and change how it’s been run over the last couple of decades?

Blackburn: Yes. First of all, I will reduce income taxes. Right now, among about 40 countries around the world, we’re ranked near the bottom—we’re 38th. We need to change that. I will reduce taxes for individuals and for companies. I’ll also reduce regulations. Just to give you an example, entrepreneurs are currently spending 15 to 20 hours a week just to meet bureaucratic demands from the Quebec government. We need to reduce that red tape. And based on my experience and my ability to identify where cuts are needed, I’m confident I can deliver on this.

Makos: On the tax front—are you saying cutting personal income taxes or just business taxes?

Blackburn: Just business taxes. And in this race, I’m also the only candidate talking about something that’s very important for our employers: I will increase the ability to bring more economic immigrants to Quebec. This is essential to help our businesses grow, create services, and address the labour shortage. Right now, we still have more than 120,000 job openings across all regions of Quebec. We need more workers and more support. That’s why I will increase opportunities for economic immigration to support our companies and our economy.

Makos: How do you reduce corporate taxes when Quebec is looking at a historic dollar sign amount when it comes to the deficit? How do you balance that out?

Blackburn: First of all, by reducing business taxes, we’ll create growth and prosperity. If we produce more, if we create more prosperity, and if we bring in more workers to Quebec, we’ll have a stronger economy. A stronger economy means more jobs and more people paying taxes. That gives us the ability to invest in our infrastructure. Right now, we’ve lost confidence when it comes to investing in our own economy. And I just want to make sure that I will change the economic climate because right now, we are not going in the right direction.

And you’re right to raise the question of public finances—because we don’t currently have a strong economic vision, and we’re in a difficult fiscal situation. We’ll have to make choices—decide where to invest and which projects to support. In my vision, that means focusing on building a stronger economy, and it will be about education and our health system.

Makos: I want to talk to you about economic immigration. Many people would say that the immigration numbers are already too high. I’ve heard from some of the people you’re running against who would like to see a small drop when it comes to immigration. You are not proposing that. So, do you have an idea here on how to do immigration in the right way? Because I think we’re all thinking about integration and our public services at the same time.

Blackburn: Mr. Legault always divides Quebecers when it comes to immigration. When I talk about increasing economic immigration, I mean economic immigration only—I’m not talking about refugees or other types of immigration. This is based on our needs. Every day, for every 10 workers retiring, we have only nine new workers entering the workforce. So we need more workers. That’s why we must increase economic immigration.

I also agree with concerns about refugee immigration. Quebec represents 20 per cent of Canada’s population, but we receive nearly 50 per cent of the country’s refugees. That’s not normal. We should only receive 20 per cent of that type of immigration. That means other provinces need to do their part. Lastly, when it comes to international students, we need to make our universities—like McGill, Concordia, Université de Montréal—more attractive and increase their capacity to bring the best talent from around the world to Quebec.

Makos: Are you more open to English-speaking immigrants coming to Quebec than the CAQ has been?

Blackburn: Yes, because we need this kind of immigration. And, of course, in Quebec, everyone agrees that business is done in French. But we also need to support our companies. If we want to be a global leader, we must be able to speak to the world—in its own language. Here in Quebec, we need to be more attractive and more competitive. I’m convinced we can do more than what Mr. Legault has done over the last eight years. He has only divided Quebecers. For me, it’s the opposite—I want to bring all Quebecers together around a strong vision, one that believes Quebec can and should be a strong nation, an influential nation in the world. I believe that deeply.

Makos: Give our listeners your bold idea to make healthcare better in Quebec.

Blackburn: I will work with doctors. I will work with nurses. I’m not going to confront them—they have the solutions. They know how to manage the healthcare system to deliver the right services to our population. My first priority in healthcare will be to create more than 60 new Groupes de médecine familiale (GMFs) because we’re currently missing around 100 GMFs across Quebec. I will also invest in expanding our university medical faculties because we’re short between 1,500 and 2,000 doctors in the system. I will make this happen—because it’s a question of delivery and it’s a question of priorities. I will protect our services, and I will reconnect with Quebecers.