Legault ‘completely assents’ to government choices that led to downgrade

Quebec Premier Francois Legault arrives for a news conference in Montreal, Thursday, April 3 2025, following a virtual meeting with provincial counterparts and Prime Minister Mark Carney where they discussed U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariffs. Legault stands behind his economic decisions despite S&P's downgrade. (Graham Hughes / The Canadian Press) (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

Quebec Premier François Legault “completely assents” to his government’s economic choices, even though some of them led Standard & Poor’s (S&P) to downgrade Quebec’s credit rating for the first time in 30 years.

In a lengthy message posted on social media on Friday morning, Legault acknowledged that his government could have made other financial decisions that might have avoided a downgrade, and that S&P’s decision was “bad news.”

However, he maintained that all the choices he has made since coming to power have been guided by the convictions of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).

“If the government is in deficit and if a rating agency has downgraded us, it’s because we made decisions based on our convictions,” he wrote, adding that he “completely assumes” his choices.

“We will gradually erase the deficit with a strong economy and a more efficient government. It’s a lot of work, but that’s what we’re here for and we’re going to do it,” he promised.

Justified spending

On Wednesday, S&P raised its rating for Quebec from AA- to A+ with a stable outlook.

An A+ rating means that S&P considers that the government has a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments to its creditors, but with slightly more risk than with an AA- rating.

The agency attributed its decision to a series of factors, including slowing population growth, rising wages for government employees and falling revenues.

On Friday, Legault hit back at S&P, arguing that all the spending by his government that is being called into question was justified.

Among other things, he insisted that increasing government employee salaries was essential to make public sector workers, such as teachers and nurses, more valuable.

“S&P thinks the government has been too generous. Not me,” he said.

The premier also reiterated that Quebec must make massive investments in infrastructure, which will amount to $19 billion a year over the next three years.

“The S&P firm considers this to be too much. On the contrary, we think that the biggest deficit we have in Quebec is the investment deficit in our hospitals, schools, transport, waterworks and so on,” he said.

Legault also admitted that the government had deprived itself of certain revenues, notably by reducing school taxes, increasing family allowances and limiting the increase in electricity rates.

But once again, he confirmed that he was at peace with his choices: “It is my absolute conviction that we must not increase the tax burden on Quebecers and that, on the contrary, we must put as much as possible back into your wallet’, he defended himself, speaking directly to the public.

“There is no question of me renouncing these three convictions,” he said.

Wealth creation

Even though the latest budget presented by Finance Minister Eric Girard forecasts a record deficit of nearly $14 billion for 2025-2026 and the opposition parties accuse it of being too spendthrift, Legault believes that Quebec remains in a good financial position.

According to him, “the opposition and the media always point to the same projects that are in trouble, such as Northvolt, but (his government) has helped hundreds of successful companies.”

“When we look at the big picture, our economic performance has been very good, far better than that of the Liberal and PQ governments,” he said.

He pointed out that the government could still do more to make the state more efficient.

“There are too many administrative employees in the government and the networks. It’s not that the employees don’t work hard, but there is far too much paperwork, reporting, accountability, regulations. There are too many organizations, too many administrative departments that could be merged. We need to clean things up, and that’s one of my priorities,” he said.

The last time Quebec suffered a downgrade was in 1995. A lower rating can lead to higher interest rates on government debt.

In an interview broadcast on RDI earlier this week, Girard said that he was not worried that S&P’s decision would lead to an increase in the government’s borrowing costs.

“Quebec is very well perceived on the financial markets,” he argued, which did not prevent Liberal finance critic Frédéric Beauchemin from accusing the government of “throwing away several million dollars.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 18, 2025.