Quebec AG Says PQ Government in Massive Deficit

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Quebec’s Auditor General, Michel Samson, recently mentioned in a report that the government is in a far worse finance crisis than it previously thought. Only a few days before the Liberals are expected to table their first budget, the auditor general revealed that the estimate of provincial finances revealed by the previous Parti Quebecois was off by $4 billion. Hence, he clarified that Quebec’s deficit is not around $1.75 billion, but is actually $5.4 billion.

Samson stressed that the financial situation is dire and urgent action is needed. He added that the PQ should have made deeper cuts and should not have promised so much. Furthermore, he highlighted that months before the election was called, then-Premier Pauline Marois made a series of spending announcements that the province simply couldn’t have afforded. Former PQ finance minister, Nicolas Marceau, alleged that the AG’s report is based on departmental wishlists. Marceau stated that “we’re talking about the concept of potential deficit, which is a deficit in which the government takes no action, makes no choices, makes no decisions, and I think this is absurd.”

On the other hand, the premier has also admitted that the governments of all stripes can promise too much to win votes. Premier Philippe Couillard reportedly said that “I would not say that the PQ is the only government that increased its expenses just before an election, but the size of the increase is significant. We are talking about six percent of increase and roughly $5.7 billion dollars of deficit if nothing is done. But we will act.”