The Legault government in Quebec faces an uncertain political future. Although the province’s next election isn’t slated until October 2026, polling suggests that the premier and his government will face a tough re-election test.
The factors behind its waning popularity are of course complicated. But a key one is that the government has run up the province’s deficit and debt and in turn saw a growing share of public resources consumed by interest payments on its debt.
Consider for instance that the Quebec government has spent more than $90 billion on debt service costs since 2014 alone. That’s an enormous amount. For that kind of money, the province could build around 36 mega-hospitals, similar to the one currently under construction in Vaudreuil-Soulanges.
The situation isn’t likely to get better either. The government has not balanced the budget since 2021, and we may not see it balanced before 2030.
Five years ago, the provincial debt was $200 billion. By the end of this year, it will be more than $235 billion. That’s $26,000 per Quebecer.
More debt means more scarce resources consumed by interest payments. This year alone, the government will spend $9.7 billion just to service its debt load. That’s $1,077 per Quebecer. And since the government has no plan for a return to a balanced budget, this amount is set to increase—particularly in an era of higher interest rates.
To put this in perspective: this year’s $9.7 billion in interest payments is the equivalent of the entire advanced education budget, or three times more than the government’s transportation and infrastructure budget.
In terms of tax relief, it would have been enough to fully cut the gas tax for more than four years. It’s also enough to cut the QST by three percentage points this year.
Even if not all of these interest payments are “wasted,” these examples provide a sense of the opportunity costs of the government’s lack of fiscal responsibility.
A key takeaway here is that the Quebec government’s overspending and debt accumulation isn’t costless.
In light of these rising costs, Premier Legault claims he wants to show fiscal discipline. It’s time for him to put his money where his mouth is.
It’s clear the government needs to balance the budget and start to reduce its debt burden. And there’s only one way to do that. The government needs to spend less.
A Quebec family with a household income of $75,000 is already paying more in provincial taxes than a similar family in Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba.
Taxpayers are already stretching their budgets to pay for everyday items. The last thing they need is a bill for more taxes.
This year, the government is increasing spending by 4.4 percent, but revenues are only increasing by 2.4 percent. With a projected deficit of $11 billion this year, Legault needs to rein in spending.
The government’s budget this year predicts that inflation and population growth will increase by about 2.8 percent. If the government held spending to the same growth rate, it would be spending about $2.4 billion less this year.
Where can the government search for spending reductions? One place to look is business subsidies or what’s sometimes called corporate welfare. On average, the Quebec government spends about $6.1 billion each year on corporate handouts, according to the Fraser Institute.
Here are just a few examples: the government is subsidizing the Swedish company Northvolt to the tune of $710 million, it plans to spend close to $870 million on the new roof for Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, and it apparently had $7 million to drop on two Los Angeles Kings pre-season games in Quebec City.
All this at a time when the province is already projecting a record deficit of $11 billion, which of course will mean more government debt and greater interest payments.
Legault and his Finance Minister Eric Girard promised Quebecers a plan to make sure we would return to a balanced budget before the end of their current term.
That needs to come sooner than later—and the only way to do it is if they have the guts to put a lid on spending.
