Quebec, On The Record ...

"I'm very satisfied with the game plan we have put forth. What concerns me, on the other hand, is returning to the old ways under the Liberals.
"Do you want to go back to what we knew with Mr. Charest -- the same vision, the same team, the same perspective, the same ethical problems?
"The ethical track record of our (PQ) government and our (separatist) party is absolutely remarkable.
Quebec (Parti Quebecois) Premier Pauline Marois

Quebec Premier Pauline Marois responds to opposition questions over the expected deficit in the National Assembly in Quebec City, April 23, 2013.  (Jacques Boissinot/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

The current Quebec government's debt is the largest in the country as a share of the economy, consuming a significant share of tax dollars in interest payments. The provincial debt has grown from $37.6-billion in 1990-91 to $175.5-billion in 2012-13; not entirely attributable to the PQ, but certainly not addressed by them in an effort to control the debt, either. The growth in government debt has outpaced GDP growth, population and inflation.

Quebec is the most indebted jurisdiction in Canada. Separating from the rest of Canada won't solve Quebec's financial difficulties, but it would most certainly aid greatly in exacerbating them to even greater heights. The province's net direct debt (gross debt minus financial assets) represents fully 49% of its economy. Quebec's debt is higher than all of the indebted U.S. states including California and New York.

Interest payments on the debt came to $9.8-billion in 2012-13, representing 11.4% of total government revenue; debt-service costs are the highest among Canadian provinces, consuming a huge share of government resources that should be going to programs and services that are of importance to Quebecers, like health care and education.

This grave imbalance is an issue that has been clothed in Ostrich-costume.

A CROP online survey conducted March 12 to 16 has placed the Liberals now at 39% support, with the PQ at 36% among respondents. According to another poll conducted for Montreal La Presse, two-thirds of respondents indicated they have no interest in a referendum on sovereignty, the very issue that came out triumphantly front-and-centre when Madame Marois proudly introduced her star election candidate Pierre Karl Peladeau with his clenched fist and separatist declaration.

That same poll indicated that a majority of respondents believed the PQ would focus on holding a referendum if they were elected to a majority position on April 7. And it's an issue that the premier now fully understands should be tamped down, for the electorate, in response, has chosen to indicate a less enthusiastic wish to re-elect the Parti Quebecois, much less render it victorious with a majority.

Premier Marois has tried her hand at slinging innuendo, raising the issue of Liberal leader Philippe Couillard's aborted business-venture association with the now-disgraced Arthur Porter, obviously concerned about the poll results.

And while she has suggested corruption lingers in Mr. Coullard's DNA as a Liberal, she said nothing when she was asked about alleged crooked business dealings between her wealthy businessman husband and the Quebec Federation of Labour, raised in testimony at the provincial corruption inquiry not that long ago.

The opposition parties used their numbers to force a National Assembly commission that would have obliged Premier Pauline Marois and her husband, businessman Claude Blanchet, to testify and explain the alleged deal with the FTQ.  Photograph by: John Mahoney , Postmedia News Service, March 10, 2014

"I detect a certain amount of worry, to say the least. There is a change in the rhythm and the tone. I'm making the choice not to follow Mme. Marois on the tone she's adopted. It would be extremely easy for me (to do so). I don't do politics like that. I'll let the citizens judge for themselves," commented Mr. Couillard