Dear Editor,
Unbelievably the CAQ government is passing new laws, 89 and 3, in the National Assembly to weaken the power of unions to strike. This repressive 1940s Duplessis-style governing is done to prevent “serious harm to the citizenry”. How out of touch can the premier be? Given the widening financial gap in Quebec between the very well off and the rest of society, given the wild escalation of housing, rent, energy and food prices making people struggle with their standard of living, given that minimum wages do not cover needed family expenses, the government wants to further erode the power of Quebecers from being able to pursue and negotiate fair collective agreements. Harm to the citizenry is occurring all right, and it is the government doing it.
The government should be freezing rent increases, passing into law a basic national income plan which would allow all Quebecers to get ahead with their lives instead of being overwhelmed by the high cost of everything. The government, if it truly cared for the people, would be proposing ways of making food available to the people at affordable prices so that children, seniors and the public in general could get the nutritious meals they need. Unionized workers are a small but important part of the Quebec work force; gains they make inevitably help others improve their standard of living, maternity and paternity leave being one such example. It is especially troubling that these new Quebec laws are being passed at a time when Trump threatens Canadian jobs and natural resources, further increasing the insecurity of Quebecers.
The CAQ government is loaded with business people who seem to be in government only to find ways of making profits. The CAQ has passed vindictive laws during its tenure, targeting anglophones, doctors and minority groups including immigrants. It has failed to deliver on health care and giving schools the resources they need. Unbelievably, this is the climate in which the Nationalist parties want to talk about Quebec’s separation from Canada. Clearly we need a new government focused on what the people need, not what the speculators want.
Carl Hager, Gatineau
