We can't help but laugh when we think that the Legault government's passion for business has forced it to assemble a star team of “dealmakers.”
In key negotiations over the conditions of thousands of public sector workers, Treasury Board President Sonia Lebel started with a 9% pay rise proposal, and ended up with a deal of… 17.4% !
We practically went from singles to doubles.
For some mid-level teachers, it's even higher, as the increase reaches 24%.
It doesn't sound like Monique Jérôme-Forget, a staunch liberal “bag keeper” of the past, who refuses to budge from her economic framework.
However, the situation is not the same now.
Sonia Lebel could not enforce a special law like her predecessors.
In Quebec, the last resort of such a law to force state lawyers and notaries to return to work was invalidated by a superior court in 2019.
The Court of Appeal later upheld the verdict.
In late 2022, the Superior Court of Ontario declared Doug Ford's special law null and void.
In short, the rules of the game have changed.
But what strategy?
However, we can question the Legault government's strategy.
The Treasury Board president raised the initial rate hike proposal to 10.3% and then again to 12.7% in early December, hoping to prevent a strike.
But as soon as it moved, Francois Legault was quick to say there was still room for maneuver.
This is practically an invitation to the unions to stand their ground given the government's weakness.
The Prime Minister's efforts to rally public support behind him have also angered teachers, who were insulted by his pleading “for the good of our children”.
In a weak state
And while there is real importance to not penalizing young people, a government that opportunistically changes its mind on the third link or subsidizes two Los Angeles Kings games with millions in Quebec is not right.
After such slip-ups, the Citizens will not line up behind Legault at Vox Pops.
Coupled with recent court decisions, the CAQ's great unpopularity will cost Quebeckers dearly.
By bending to the will of union members, Quebec will have to find $11 billion in the long run, in the coffers and/or in our pockets.
Not to mention the impact of more than four weeks of strikes for the 400,000 young Quebecers who lost their apprenticeships.
A government of total negotiators…
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