Quebec’s CAQ government is taking major heat after the province’s credit rating was downgraded last week for the first time in over three decades.
Opposition parties blame reckless spending, but they’re also taking aim at Quebec Premier François Legault for attending a Habs game just hours after the rating change.
“It’s the end result of a very, very bad government. An inefficient government,” said interim Liberal Leader Marc Tanguay.
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Last Wednesday, S&P Global Ratings announced Quebec had been downgraded from AA- to A+, the first such reduction since the ’90s.
Among the reasons cited by S&P were high spending, lower revenues, persistent deficits and trade uncertainty due to U.S. tariffs.
“There is no impact on financial market as of today,” Finance Minister Eric Girard said on Tuesday.
He said many businesses are putting investments on hold due to the trade war between Canada and the U.S.
To counter that, Quebec is amping up spending on infrastructure. “We certainly would have preferred that it did not happen and we did do our best effort to convince them of the quality of our plan,” he said.
Meanwhile, the day of the downgrade, Legault was seen at the Montreal Canadiens game against the Carolina Hurricanes, causing some politicians to question his priorities.
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