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The return of older workers?

Return of older workers?


All parties want to encourage the return to work of 150,000 workers aged 60 and over (Québec Solidaire has not yet made a statement).


They propose several tax incentives. The Parti Québécois (PQ) proposes a 15% tax rebate, no penalty on pensions, and like the Liberal Party (PLQ) for those aged 62 and over, the cessation of contributions to the Quebec Pension Plan. The PLQ wants to improve it to gradually reach 40% of the contributed income. And like the Conservative Party (PCQ), it plans to increase the tax credit for career extension.


The PQ also wants to set up a retirement benefits insurance fund in the event of employer bankruptcy, to which employers would be required to contribute.




Immigrant workers in a field of labor shortage

More or less immigration?


The Quebec Employers Council has been asking the government for months to welcome more new arrivals, even to double the current threshold of 50,000 immigrants – and to improve the mechanism for recognizing the acquired skills and qualifications of foreign workers.


Although the CAQ announced $290 million to strengthen the employment integration of immigrants, it no longer wants to increase immigration thresholds after 2022. Like PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, it does not believe that immigration is the solution to the long-term labour shortage.






It is interesting to know that according to a Statistics Canada study published last June, recent immigrants occupy positions that are harder to fill. Can we logically think that they help fill shortages in certain sectors? And what about the long term, when more workers will be needed to meet their consumption and needs, particularly in education or health. A vicious circle, or a virtuous one?


Like the CAQ, the PQ therefore proposes that Quebec welcome fewer new arrivals and concentrate on economic immigration, while the PLQ and QS opt for the opposite solution!


185,000 unemployed, 270,000 vacant positions; it is obvious today that reducing the thresholds is not going in the right direction. – Dominique Anglade, PLQ

The Conservatives would also simplify the procedures for hiring foreign workers. "It's not normal that a farmer has to wait a year and pay thousands of dollars to bring in a temporary worker," says their leader, Éric Duhaime.




Automation, robotization, digitalization of jobs

Other thoughts on employment


The latter (PCQ) are also banking on the digitalization and automation of businesses, just like the Liberals, who are also talking about retraining workers in sectors in demand.


On this subject, François Legault promises to add 30,000 graduates in "key sectors of the economy": manufacturing and technology, public services and construction. The CAQ wants to modernize professional training, offer short programs and scholarships.




The PQ and QS want to gradually increase the minimum hourly wage to $18 . Québec Solidaire would provide assistance to SMEs to minimize the impacts. A pilot project on the guaranteed minimum income would be set up. Until inflation returns to its normal level of 3%, the QST would be suspended on thousands of essential products. QS is also aiming for a reform of the Pay Equity Act and is talking about gradually introducing the 35-hour work week without loss of pay with 10 paid holidays, 12 statutory holidays, and a minimum of 4 weeks of vacation per year.




Tax cuts and other election promises

Tax cuts? The beautiful promise…


The CAQ and the Liberal Party are promising tax cuts, by reducing the rates of the first two provincial tax brackets. While the former would finance them through the Generations Fund (which aims to reduce the debt of our neighbors), the latter is not afraid of deficits...


The Liberals want to help Quebec SMEs become more "competitive" and focus on their growth by reducing their administrative paperwork and taxes. They would also reduce the contribution rate for financing the health and social services network for businesses...


They also commit to expanding access to the DPE (deduction for very small businesses [less than 5 employees] and self-employed workers), which allows them to be entitled to a tax rate of 3.2% instead of 11.5%.




The Conservatives are moving in the same direction, but with different calculations, notably by eliminating subsidies to businesses. They want a single-rate tax.


The PQ does not envisage a tax cut, but would reduce costs considered essential (housing, gasoline, food). QS also excludes it, except for the wealthiest, starting at $100,000. QS would tax all capital gains (except the sale of a principal residence), impose a progressive minimum tax on businesses and tax financial transactions. A maximum salary would be imposed, among other things, for directors of companies that receive financial assistance from the State.


French, please!


With the recent and already contested law 96, all companies and businesses with fewer than 50 employees are subject to the Charter, which provides for French as the only language of business : contracts, signage, services, communications, litigation, etc. Certain provisions came into force last June and other amendments, notably those extending the francization rules to companies with 25 to 49 employees, will be implemented gradually by mid-2025.




French in all Quebec businesses

QS supports this reform of Bill 101, but would eliminate the six-month deadline imposed on immigrants to communicate in French with the state. The party would apply it to all companies with 10 or more employees, limit the "undue requirement" of English proficiency for hiring and strengthen the application of the law in the digital world, including signage.


The PQ, for its part, is holding high the banner of French and would strengthen Bill 101, judging that the new Bill 96 is not sufficient. It wants to broaden its application and impose 100% French-speaking economic immigration.


On the other hand, the PCQ wants to reverse the reform of the Charter of the French language in order to protect the rights of the English-speaking minority. It is talking about less drastic incentive measures.




The environment and business. How to protect the planet?

And the planet?


QS places the environment among its priorities and plans to reduce pollutant emissions by 55% by 2030 (45% for the Liberal Party, 37.5% for the CAQ, 45% but compared to a more recent level for the PQ, and no target for the PCQ). The first three want to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 .


While the CAQ is banking on the electrification of transportation, QS plans to pay major polluters and would establish a "carbon budget" with annual and sectoral targets. Businesses would pay a dissuasive tax of $100 per tonne on excess emissions ($205 as of 2030). QS would nationalize industries producing renewable energy (wind, solar, etc.). Royalties for companies that exploit drinking water for commercial purposes will be increased (as for PL) and the exploitation of drinking water by private companies for bottling purposes would be gradually prohibited.

These election promises that want the best for you

2022-09-12

HENKEL

7 minutes

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Did you know that less than 70% of people of voting age showed their colours in the last provincial elections in 2018? Trust is fragile. But we must not forget that decision-makers have a very great power to impact society and the way the economy operates.


How could the parties’ promises affect our businesses? What are the issues at stake for our SMEs? After two weeks of campaigning, Henkel Media took stock.


The question of the day is: how to overcome the lack of manpower? Moreover, many have been generous with a tax cut; the decline of French in our beautiful province is among the political concerns; and they have spoken a little, but so little, about the future of our planet…

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