Budget update: QS proposes doubling the Solidarity Tax Credit

Solidere Quebec is proposing to double the solidarity tax credit temporarily to help the most disadvantaged deal with rampant inflation.

A few days before Finance Minister Eric Girard presented an economic modernization offer, Solidarity MP Ruba Ghazal urged Quebec to take measures to support families in the face of the rising cost of living.

“You see, there are people who currently have to make very painful choices between doing a big grocery store for a week or between buying winter boots for their youngest. It really is a very difficult situation, more and more for a lot of people,” she worried.

However, if some see an increase in their wages, others, such as the elderly, are left on the sidelines, says Ruba Ghazal.

His solution: to double the Solidarity Tax Credit over the next six months, a measure that would benefit 2.8 million Quebecers. This refundable tax credit is intended to help low and middle income families.

right in their pocket

The measure, estimated to cost $900 million per Quebec solidere, would, according to the party, allow a family of two parents and two children to receive up to $2,340 and an elderly person to receive up to $1,917 annually.

“It’s the money that goes straight into their pockets. It’s a simple measurement that can be made very quickly. And the most vulnerable people, those who really need it today, well, can benefit quickly,” concludes the Mercier member.

However, Ruba Ghazal denies encouraging high inflation with the injection of these new sums, the many aid given by the government to deal with the COVID-19 crisis is often identified as one of the factors that could contribute to the increase in prices.

According to her, the “many causes that contribute to inflation” and the “food insecurity” experienced by many families prove that “this is not the time to steamroll and then say: ‘Oh! Inflation by giving people less money.

Work and the green economy

For its part, the liberal party CAQ called for combating labor shortages by prioritizing measures to boost employee retention in companies, but also by improving working conditions in the public network, particularly for teachers and nurses.

Issues of energy transition and housing shortages are also at the heart of liberal concerns.

“What I expect and what all Quebecers expect from the Legault government is that it presents concrete plans and makes the right choices. Not only to re-elect him in the next election, but to reassure the population in the wake of a historic health crisis and deliver the services they deserve,” said the opposition’s Finance Spokesperson . Public Policy and Combating Climate Change, Carlos J. litao.