Quebec Election Day 4: CAQ promises to cap hydro rate, PQ looks to help fight inflation

Coalition Avenir Québec Leader François Legault is promising to cap increases in hydro rates and other government-set fees at three per cent.

Legault told reporters on Day 4 of the election campaign that fees for such things as electricity, daycares and universities would rise with inflation every year, to a maximum of three per cent.

The CAQ leader made the promise this morning in Mont-St-Grégoire, in the electoral district of Iberville, a riding the party won in 2018 but then lost after its member joined the Conservatives.

Claire Samson was booted from the CAQ in June 2021 after it learned she had donated $100 to the Conservatives under leader Éric Duhaime.

She gave the Conservatives their only seat in the legislature and helped boost the profile of the party, which was a non-factor in the last election but which is now polling ahead of the Parti Québécois (PQ)

Meanwhile, the PQ is promising to help Quebecers fight inflation with a temporary and targeted allowance of $1,200 for people making less than $50,000 and of $750 for people making between $50,000 and $80,000.

PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon introduces Raphael Fievez who was ousted as a candidate for Quebec Solidaire after agreeing with a column written by a controversial newspaper columnist during a campaign stop in Montreal, on Wednesday, August 31, 2022. Fievez will work on the PQ campaign. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Quebec Liberal (PLQ) Leader Dominique Anglade was at a news conference Saint-Agapit, south of Quebec City this morning, and is promising free or almost free tuition for specialized sports, arts or science programs in schools – if elected.

The PLQ plans to offer up to $5,000 per child to cover registration costs for different educational programs.

Quebec Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade, left, meets supporters as she arrives at a news conference, Wednesday, August 31, 2022 in St-Agapit, Que. Quebecers are going to the polls for a general election on Oct. 3. THE CANADIAN PRESS / Jacques Boissinot

Éric Duhaime is making the Oct. 3 election a referendum on the GNL project in the Saguenay. Which would involve the construction of a 750 km gas pipeline, a gas liquefaction plant and a terminal to export methane. He says a vote for the Conservative Party of Quebec is a vote for the project and a vote for the CAQ is a vote against it. He promises to abolish the law that prohibits the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in Quebec.

Québec solidaire is proposing a rapid bus transit service on the Quebec City bridge to counter the third link, a new tramway line between Limoilou and Charlesbourg and the demolition of highway segments. They are promising $5.3 billion in transportation projects in the Capitale-Nationale region.

(CREDIT: Twitter@GNadeauDubois)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2022.