Some say we should not worry too much debt to the state. Continue to spend without restraint, because the relative weight of debt will decrease with the growth of the economy. Quebec's debt is not she rose from 52.2% of GDP in 1998 to 42.7% in 2008 without any repayment of capital?
I see two big problems with this reasoning. First, he must pay annual interest of several billion dollars to our lenders. The debt service is also the third largest item in state spending after health and education. These interest payments are so many billions of dollars that can not be spent on hospitals, schools or road maintenance. Second, it assumes that the Quebec economy performs particularly well in the coming years. However, the growth potential of the Quebec economy is severely limited by an aging population.
2. Quebec is rich
We can measure the wealth of a population is not the value of production (IP or income of its population. Choose any indicator, Quebec is one of the poorest places in Canada.
GDP per capita in Quebec is $ 6,000 less than Ontario and almost $ 9,000 less than other Canadians. As in real personal disposable income per capita (all revenues less all taxes), it is 23 $ 324 in Quebec, is 3477 dollars less than the average for other Canadians.
3.The Quebec can all afford
Even if Quebec is poorer, our government spends 2503 dollars more per capita than the average of other provinces. This is possible because Quebecers are more indebted than other Canadians. Net debt per capita in Quebec was 16 336 dollars per capita in 2008 against 9759 dollars for the citizens of other provinces. A difference of 67%.
4. It is the poor who always end up paying
Quite the contrary, thanks to a very progressive tax. Between 1980 and 2006, the number of tax-payers has grown three times faster than the number of taxable taxpayers. Thus, 41.4% of Quebecers do not pay taxes in 2006.
3.2% of Quebecers reported revenues of $ 100 000 and over in 2006. Between them, they paid almost as much tax as 81.1% of taxpayers, that is to say all those who earned less than $ 50 000. Those whose incomes range from 50 000 to $ 100 000 - the middle class - constitute 15.7% of taxpayers paid 39.7% taxes.
5. The current situation is temporary and due to the crisis
Instead, time is running out to bring order to public finances. Health spending rose from $ 15 billion to 27 billion dollars over 10 years and we have not seen anything yet. In 20 years, the number of Quebecers aged 65 and over will increase from 1.2 million to 2.1 million. The only effect of aging will create additional costs of 19 billion dollars for health care of Quebecois. Indeed, a person under 65 years costs the state $ 1 600 per year on average, against 15 000 for someone over 65 years.
6. The money is in Ottawa This is the historical goodwill of the governments of Quebec and the two parties committed to independence. I will not comment on a particular issue and I am the first to admit that the question of the profitability or lack of profitability of Canadian federalism is of unprecedented complexity. However, I'd be extremely surprised if Quebec would not only benefit from the situation in recent years. First, the Statistical Institute of Quebec estimated $ 51 billion spending on goods and services and federal programs in Quebec. By cons, not Ottawa that would reap 43 billion dollars in tax revenues in the province. Second, the federal government has increased in recent years of 5 billion dollars in transfer payments to quebec.ca 'is substantially more than the cost of the fiscal deficit estimated at 2.5 billion dollars in the report Seguin (2002) and substantially more than one billion dollars would be saved by an independent Quebec in Budget Year 1 of the former member François Legault published in 2005. Finally, if Quebec really was the cash cow of the federal government, as seems to think many Quebecers, how is it that he did not even have the resources to balance its budgets and reduce its own debt. Albertans, two times less likely than Quebecers pay so much money in taxes to the federal government.
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