Weak GDP growth: the Marchand administration appropriated it

Faced with weak GDP growth in the region, the opposition in the city council criticized the mayor for “being slow on his feet” and neglecting the economy, to which Bruno Marchand replied that the politician had little to see in the region’s economic performance.

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“Being attractive is not only the mayor’s fault. If the mayor says to you: ‘The economy is doing well, it’s because of me’, beware of that mayor. The economy is much more complex than the mayor’s work and the political administration, “launched Bruno Marchand.

The Quebec mayor had been anticipating the opposition’s reaction to an economic growth report released Tuesday that shows Quebec’s census metropolitan area (CMA) has the lowest growth rate in Canada in 2022, at 1.5%.

He drags his feet

Opposition Quebec d’Abord and Équipepriorite Quebec (ÉPQ) wasted no time in blaming the town hall for these disappointing performances. The economy does not seem to interest Bruno Marchand, says the leader of the Official Opposition, Claude Villeneuve. We don’t know what his plan is for Quebec’s economic development. Every time we talk to him about this, it’s like we get the impression of a teenager being forced to clean his room. It’s always backwards.”

“I think politics has an effect,” said Patrick Paquet of ÉPQ. “While it’s slowing down and we talk a lot about the environment, during this time, we don’t talk about the economy.”

He asserts that the merchants complain of a lack of listening on the part of the city. “I think it is a signal we are sending to the Marchand administration,” he says, while agreeing that the damage cannot be fully attributed to them. he [le maire] You should take care of the economy a bit more in Quebec.”

Politics is not the source of the problem

For Bruno Marchand, “Analytics does not identify politics as the source of the problem.”

He agrees that a politician can, however, act on the attractiveness of the city and the workforce, which his administration does on a daily basis, he assures us. Especially by working on the tram project that is “essential” to the city’s attraction, according to him. Just like the different navigation options he wants to put.

“We need to attract people here to rejuvenate our city. Mainly for economic reasons.

He notes that Quebec has received more immigration than other cities in Quebec, with the exception of Montreal. “We attract more people here than we have ever before than in other cities in Quebec.”