Liberal hopeful Pablo Rodriguez has joined the chorus of politicians saying Quebec needs to diversify its exports as Canada enters a trade war with the United States.
Rodriguez pointed out that about 75 per cent of Quebec’s international exports go to the U.S., leaving the province vulnerable as American President Donald Trump continues to threaten Canada with tariffs. His economic plan includes increasing diplomatic efforts.
In the meantime, Rodriguez says it’s crucial to boost productivity and support Quebec’s regions, particularly the exploitation of natural resources. The plan aims to reestablish a Liberal presence outside city centres.
“So we have to do many things. One of them is to bring down the barriers in the country where 40 million people. So if you take aside some of the barriers are there to protect your cultural language, but you sit down and negotiate with the other provinces, we can do a lot internally within Canada. The other thing is to open more offices in different parts of the world,” Rodriguez told CTV News
“We have free trade deals with all the G7 countries, with Europe, Great Britain, with the Indo-Pacific regions. Let’s take advantage of that.”
In his economic campaign promises announced Tuesday, Rodriguez focuses on increasing small and medium businesses (SME)‘s productivity through AI and automation and cutting bureaucratic red tape. Rodriguez said he would redirect tax credits to do so.
“We’re facing a huge challenge today, which is the aging of the population, which means that a lot of business owners, people that started their own business, great stuff across Quebec — that has to be transferred. And we’re talking at this moment about thousands of those businesses that have to be transferred (to new ownership)” Rodriguez said in an interview.
‘Government efficiency’
Rodriguez’s economic plan also aims to “instill a culture of innovation and performance throughout the public sector.” This includes a digital transition and modernization of government departments – including better management of IT projects.
The government recently came under fire for its mismanagement of the automobile insurance board’s online platform, SAAQclic, which was riddled with glitches and involved cost overruns of at least $500 million.
The economic plan also proposes a hiring freeze for civil servants “by making the management of government programs more efficient and less costly.”
The plan also includes more investment in the private sector, including “in the construction of municipal infrastructure, housing and public transit with the aim of achieving better land-use planning.”
Rodriguez’s economic plan was developed along with two of his backers in the leadership race, Marguerite-Bourgeoys MNA Frédéric Beauchemin and Philippe Couillard’s former Treasury Board president Martin Coiteux.
Both have had a track record of being more economically conservative, with Coiteux being associated to Couillard’s austerity measures. Beauchemin considered running for the Liberal leadership before backing Rodriguez and had said he wanted to tighten the belt on government spending.
“The deficit in itself is a problem because it means that you don’t have the room for maneuvering in an economic context, which is very, very complicated and tough,” said Couteux, who’s currently an adjunct professor at the HEC, the University of Montreal’s business school.
“What happens on south of the border means that we need this room for maneuvering, which we don’t have right now. So it’s a serious issue.”
The Coalition Avenir Québec government will present its budget later this month in the face of an $11 billion deficit.
The Liberal Party of Quebec will choose its leader in July. It has been edging out the CAQ in recent polls.
With files from The Canadian Press
