Canada/Québec reach agreement with municipalities on new fiscal pact
The Legault government announced Wednesday that it has reached an agreement in principle with Quebec municipalities on a new fiscal pact that will cover the period 2024-2028.
Details of the agreement reached with the Fédération québécoise des municipalités (FQM), the Union des municipalitéss du Québec (UMQ), Ville de Montréal and Ville de Québec will be officially unveiled in the coming weeks.
However, both the UMQ and the FQM have indicated that the new partnership confirms the government's commitment to enshrine in law the sharing with municipalities of an annual amount equivalent to the growth in revenues generated by one point of the QST.
This amount is expected to reach $445 million this year, rising to $1 billion by 2030.
In a press release issued late this afternoon, the Ministère du Conseil exécutif states that this agreement will transform fiscal pacts into a new form of collaboration based on reciprocal commitments to achieve common goals.
Collective challenges
To meet new collective challenges, Quebec City and the municipalities are committed to taking action on a number of issues deemed to be priorities for Quebecers:
- taking action on climate adaptation and transition ;
- encouraging and supporting the development of a sufficient supply of quality housing;
- helping vulnerable people;
- support sustainable land use planning for the benefit of the population and all communities;
- maintain and plan the renewal of essential municipal infrastructures, particularly water.
We are laying the foundations for a new form of collaboration to better serve the population and meet the challenges of the future. Rather than negotiating financial transfers, the government and municipalities have set common objectives and will now work together to achieve them," said Premier François Legault in a press release.
The Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, stated that this new relationship, based on mutual trust with the municipal sector, is designed to meet current and future challenges, and to make our living environments ever more flourishing.
Our government is determined to make municipalities and regions even stronger, more prosperous and more sustainable. Above all, we want to meet the needs of all communities.
A quote from Andrée Laforest, Minister of Municipal Affairs
Ms. Laforest will provide an update on the partnership with municipalities at a press conference.
Bill expected
The government's press release states that it will shortly table a major bill to modernize municipal taxation and make it more agile.
The Fédération québécoise des municipalités, which had already approved the new partnership proposed by Québec on October 27, is pleased to have achieved the objectives set for it.pleased to have achieved the clear, well-defined, reasonable and attainable objectives it had set itself before entering into negotiations with Québec.
We're very pleased. I think it's the agreement we asked for. Among other things, we wanted to protect the QST's growth point within the law, which will be put in place. We also asked for a redistribution of this growth point, which was also granted. I think these are very, very important elements for us," said Jacques Demers, president of the FQM and mayor of Sainte-Catherine-de-Hatley, in an interview with Radio-Canada.
He also welcomed the substantial amounts promised to municipalities to help them adapt to climate change. La Presse reported on Wednesday that Quebec is ready to devote $500 million to this issue.
For their part, the members of the Union des municipalités du Québec held an extraordinary general meeting in the Old Capital on Wednesday. Over 93% of them voted in favor of renewing the Quebec-municipalities partnership.
It was only after the result of the vote was known that the government issued its press release announcing the conclusion of the agreement.
Solidarity
UMQ President and Mayor of Varennes, Martin Damphousse, was delighted to note that the solidarity of the municipal world had made it possible to broaden the tax base and obtain additional amounts to support priority projects.
This new partnership bears witness to the Quebec government's recognition of the evolving role of municipalities and the related priorities they have been pursuing for several months now.priorities that the UMQ has been advocating for several months, particularly in the areas of homelessness, housing and adaptation to climate change," commented Mr. Damphousse.Damphousse.
The City of Montreal, for its part, stated that the agreement does not mark the end of negotiations, but the beginning of a partnership in which the Quebec government recognizes the priorities targeted by the municipal sector.
In a written statement sent to Radio-Canada, Catherine Cadotte, mayor Valérie Plante's press secretary, said that the cities are still hoping that the Legault government will increase its contribution to public transit funding.
The cities expect that, by the time the fiscal pact is finally signed, the Québec government will have identified a way to finance the transit companies' 2024 deficit, and that the Legault government will be in a position to do so.by the Quebec government, and that it will commit to starting discussions now on funding for the years 2025 to 2028," said Ms. Cadotte.
Source: ici.radio-canada.ca
