As we await the byelection for the Terrebonne riding seat left vacant following the resignation of MLA and Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, the CUPE reiterates that the Legault government does not want to support public services but is intent on making Quebeckers pay. CUPE has launched a poster campaign in the Montreal suburb of Terrebonne sporting the message that Legault wants to make you pay ”Legault veut vous faire payer!”.
“Legault will get you to pay either through service cuts or privatization. Be it public transit, electricity or health care services, CAQ is stepping up pressure to reach further into the pockets of taxpayers rather than offer good public services,” said CUPE Quebec president Patrick Gloutney.
In concrete terms, the energy plan framed by Bill 69 will pave the way to an economic model from a different era to benefit private companies. Just last week, we learned that Santé Québec had 1000 fewer positions than it did the month before and wants to push forward with further cuts. It can already been seen that our workplaces are short staffed, and this is sure to have an adverse effect on users. Finally, there is an acute lack of financing in public transit, which forces people to spend more to use their cars at a time of a climate crisis.
“Our role is to draw attention to what governments do well and not so well. The Quebec model was built with strong public services! We need more public services, not less,” said Gloutney