Just days out from Quebec’s general election, business leaders are calling on the next government to commit to making the province a better place to invest.
They’re calling on politicians to be “more ambitious” with economic policies and say that Quebecers should be on board too because that wealth will trickle down to support things like wages and social services
“Quebecers need to say: ‘I want to win. Like, I’m done with losing,’” said Andrew Lutfy, the CEO of Dynamite Group and Carbonleo.
“Imagine the Montreal Canadiens, if we kept coming in dead last. Dead last, dead last, dead last. Like, would we be complacent? Of course not. We go and we scream ‘Go Habs Go!’”
The Quebec billionaire businessman took the stage Friday with a very specific target: growing the province’s economy to $900 billion within five years, and a trillion within seven.
“Let’s find the top five things that are most impactful, that are in the way, and let’s put them into effect,” said Lufty.
That comes as business leaders point out that Quebec places second last behind all other Canadian provinces and American states in terms of GDP per capita.
“All Quebecers have to do is turn to their politicians and say: ‘I want to win economically. I understand now what’s in it for me,’” said Lufty.
With uncertainty looming with the trade war, they say the next government needs to make it more attractive for companies to invest here, and they’re not just asking for more subsidies.
Couche Tard CEO Alain Boucard pointed to his own company as an example, where only 14 per cent of the total revenue comes from Canada
He says the next government needs to focus on boosting competition instead.
“It creates an unfair form of competition. We subsidize one company in favour of another, and often they’re foreign companies,” said Boucard.
Finance Minister Eric Girard said that the biggest obstacle to stabilizing the economy – should the PQ win – is a referendum.
PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon replying, accusing the CAQ of leading a fear campaign, while promising a safe pair of hands to Quebec’s business community for the next four years.
But for business leaders – the problem isn’t so much a coming referendum, but the current economic climate here at home.
“Quebecers need to understand they want to win. $900 billion and a trillion is the target. They have to screm it, they have to demand it,” said Lutfy.
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