Caquism

The Coalition Avenir Québec ( Short CAQ ) is a political party in Québec which is in power since 2018's provincial election.

=Policies=

Economy
Favorable to economic liberalism and capitalist globalization, the party defends tax cuts, increased purchasing power of consumers, a reduction in the role of the state in economic activity and the dismantling of certain public services. Sometimes described as neoliberal and populist on tax issues, his program also includes budget cuts to the tune of $ 1.2 billion in public spending.

The Coalition proposes a greater investment in the fields of health and education. In the book “Cap sur un Québec gagnant”, written by leader François Legault, he puts forward the Saint-Laurent Project, a grouping of innovation zones (around ten at the start) along the Saint-Laurent river, on the model of Silicon Valley. Its objective is to attract investments that will help develop the knowledge economy. It also proposes to put in place a “Taxpayers' Charter”, aimed at limiting the increase in taxes and tariffs of the various organizations and state corporations in Québec, with the objective of increasing the disposable income of households.

Environment
Protecting the environment is not one of the CAQ's priorities. Some of its candidates have thus openly expressed climate skepticism. The coalition wishes to continue oil and gas exploration and exploitation, including resorting, if deemed necessary, to the controversial hydraulic fracturing process.

Family
In the fall of 2013, the working group called Cap sur nos families and chaired by MP Christian Dubé proposed reducing the tax burden on middle-class families. The proposed means is the abolition of the health tax and the school tax, making it possible to give back on average $ 1,000 per year to families. The party is also proposing measures to encourage the rise in births. For François Legault, this is a proposal to resolve the demographic problem other than through immigration

Immigration
The CAQ recommends a 20% reduction in the immigration threshold in Québec, which corresponds to approximately 10,000 fewer immigrants each year. According to Chief François Legault, this is a responsible and necessary measure to ensure the successful integration of newcomers into Québec's society.

On March 16, 2015, François Legault and MP Simon Jolin-Barrette proposed a new pact with immigrants. Their proposal is built around the principle of shared responsibility between immigrants and the host society, in particular with the creation of a transitional support certificate aimed at evaluating knowledge in French, the history of Québec and the values ​​of Québec society and the process they have taken towards obtaining a job. François Legault then announced that his party would like Québec to adopt an Interculturalism Act and the programs that currently exist will benefit from more resources.

In 2019, the first full year under a Caquist government, immigration to Québec was cut by around 20%, going from 52,400 and 51,118 in 2017 and 2018, to around 40,000 for the year 2019.

The CAQ considerably tightened the entry conditions for workers and foreign students by reforming the Québec Experience Program (PEQ) on July 22, 2020. This reform, announced in October 2019, was finally presented by the new Minister of immigration, Nadine Girault, as a relaxed version, thus seeking to respond to several critics deeming it too severe. However, this new version of the reform fails to honor Prime Minister Legault's promise, made in the chamber on November 7, 2019, to grant an acquired right to all workers and students who came to Québec before the reform was implemented. The "new version" of the action plan, in fact, only grants acquired rights to workers already registered before the deadline. Minister Girault never explained it; some opponents considered that these easing was "window dressing". Québec universities have mobilized for a time in reaction to this serious omission which leaves hundreds of students in the most complete uncertainty, relative to the clearly more favorable conditions of the former PEQ under which and perhaps also for which they had come to engage in studies and in Québec life, but to no avail. In full summer confinement due to the health crisis caused by Covid-19, the few demonstrations by students and foreign workers against the reform of the PEQ, in the tradition of the movement "Québec is us too", have almost gone unnoticed by public opinion. The Federation of Québec's Chambers of Commerce, although in favor of modifying immigration conditions, even questioned the timing chosen to initiate such a reform.

Education
In 2013, the Coalition identified school tax increases across Québec in order to demonstrate the effect of the Marois government's abolition of the equalization program in school boards. The Coalition had set up a website, taxescolaire.com, which allowed citizens to report the increase in their neighborhood. The Marois government has therefore announced a reimbursement of $ 100 million over two years to offset these increases.

The coalition is in favor of the abolition of school boards, the modulation of tuition fees and the increase in the remuneration of teachers on the condition that they are "evaluated twice a year according to the success rate of their students - measured each year. year through ministerial reviews - and parental satisfaction ”. Some personalities from the CAQ have expressed themselves in favor of non-subsidized daycare centers.