State aid: “We must end the open bar”

This is the right time for companies to clean up the sanctioned aid, they will have to show their white paw if they want to get public money, Quebec Solidair believes. “We must end the arbitrary and open bar,” Ruba Ghazal said in an interview. Newspaper.

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The member who stepped in the Michael Rousseau affair wants to make businesses accountable and conditional government assistance on social responsibility standards.

“It simply came to our notice then that this was not a revolution. We are talking about taxpayer money. Our proposal is very simple: if you do not meet these standards, you will not have publicity, ”said a spokesman for Solidarity in the Economy.

Five criteria to be respected

According to the QS proposal, companies benefiting from public aid in Quebec will set up a Joint Board of Directors by 2026.

Holders of assets in tax havens and those who do not respect the Balanced Remuneration Policy will not have more grants or loans (i.e. do not get 30 times less salary in the boss company).

Businesses must also guarantee or maintain jobs and comply with the French language charter.

We are angry, but we need to take action

“For example, the company must have a franchise certificate and the senior managers must speak French. We saw it in the Air Canada file. We are very strong to be angry, but at one point, we must take action,” the elected spokesman said.

QS seeks to pass legislation containing five criteria that apply to these actions, including the names of the departments and organizations, specifically the Ministry of Economy and Innovation (MEI), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Investment Quebec (IQ).

“And it implies more transparency. For Caisse de dépôt, we can know where the money is kept, but at Investissement Québec we do not know. It is fundamental, we need to know what we are investing in,” he said.^Me Ghazal.

Quebec always invests more money

The latter recalled that Quebec had almost completed a record year in terms of business assistance.

Such as It was reported Newspaper In the springOver the past financial year, the MEI’s Economic Development Fund (FDE) has provided more than $ 1.4 billion in assistance to businesses. This is 66% more than the $ 848 million allocated in 2019-2020.

For the current fiscal year, the finance ministry plans to provide an additional $ 80 million to about $ 1.5 billion in businesses.

“This happens when the CAQ puts in more money. This is also the case when we see investments in Kaisse funds from companies that are active in tax havens. I do not see why we need cleaning and we do not have the political courage to move forward, ”M confirmed.^Me Ghazal.

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