Public investment in the military: ‘Absolutely terrible,’ says Québec solidaire
Posted September 16, 2025 2:55 pm.
The Legault government’s desire to invest public funds in the defence sector has sparked a strong reaction from Québec solidaire (QS). The left-wing party considers this “absolutely terrible and worrying.”
“We’re talking about missiles and machine guns. This is not at all in line with Quebec’s international reputation, and François Legault does not have a mandate to do this,” said interim QS spokesperson Guillaume Cliche-Rivard.
On Tuesday, Radio-Canada reported that the Quebec government plans to subsidize companies in the defence sector. In an interview with the public broadcaster, Minister of Economy, Innovation, and Energy Christine Fréchette said that the rules have been changed to allow Investissement Québec to support military production.
Quebec’s goal is to take advantage of the federal government’s new policy of significantly increasing military spending. Additionally, the European Union has announced plans to invest a colossal €800 billion in rearmament.
“How is it that there are always hundreds of millions of dollars for industries, for businesses, and now for weapons, when we know that there are children in our schools who lack remedial teaching services?” Cliche-Rivard asked.
QS leader Ruba Ghazal accused Premier Legault of following in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s footsteps.
“He (François Legault) says it’s just to sell to allied countries. Who decides the list of allied countries? Once again, it’s the federal government. If the federal government considers Israel to be an allied country that is committing genocide, does François Legault agree with that? Quebecers do not agree with that,” she said.
“Ashamed of his record”
The parliamentary session was supposed to resume on Tuesday. However, Legault chose to postpone the start of the session by two weeks to allow his new ministers to familiarize themselves with their portfolios.
QS strongly criticized this decision and claimed that the premier was instead “ashamed of his record.”
“He has decided to dodge our questions, which are the questions of Quebecers. He has decided to hide from his responsibility to be accountable to Quebecers. And I find that extremely outrageous,”Ghazal said.
In the wake of the cabinet reshuffle, CAQ members expressed disappointment: a symptom of a government in its “twilight years,” according to Ghazal.
“It’s not just the public that no longer has confidence in this government. There are also members of his caucus,” she added.
-This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
