Quebec Liberals tout their credibility on managing public finances

Former Quebec premier Philippe Couillard speaks during a tribute on the tenth anniversary of his election win in 2014, at the Quebec Liberal party general council meeting in Bromont, Que. on Saturday, May 25, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrice Bergeron

Bromont, Que. — The Liberals' credibility is "through the roof" when it comes to managing public finances, said PLQ interim leader Marc Tanguay on Sunday at his party's general convention in a Bromont hotel.

Throughout the weekend, the Liberals focused on their budgetary rigor, while the Legault government is sinking into an $11 billion deficit.

"When we tell the Quebec Liberal Party that we're going to make sound management of public finances a priority, I can tell you that our level of credibility is through the roof," he said in a press scrum on Sunday morning.

In a resolution adopted on Saturday, the QLP pledges to present a plan to return to balanced budgets by preserving health, education and social services if the party returns to power in 2026.

The Liberals argue that they succeeded between 2014 and 2018 with the government of Philippe Couillard, a premier to whom they paid tribute over the weekend.

At the time, the Liberals had imposed cuts in health and education in particular that had been deemed painful by many, but Premier Couillard maintained that he had saved Quebec in the process.

Tanguay asserted that his party had not imposed a regime of "austerity" on Quebec, contrary to what his opponents claimed.

MNA Madwa-Nika Cadet maintained that health and education services had been "preserved" between 2014 and 2018.

The resolution adopted by the PLQ this weekend should not worry Quebecers, she said.

"For me, I don't think Quebecers should be worried, on the contrary."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 26, 2024.