Facing backlash, PQ rethinks pledge to eliminate deficit

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The Parti Québécois, which has come under attack in recent months for cutting social programs, says it will reconsider a commitment to eliminating the province's deficit.

Labour leaders said they were told during an hour-long private meeting with Premier Pauline Marois on Wednesday that bringing the deficit down to zero "wasn't religion."

The stand marks a significant reversal for the PQ minority government, which has been focused on eliminating the deficit by March, 2014 – with the clear intention of using it as a major plank in an election campaign that could be held next spring.

But the backlash among traditional PQ supporters has hurt the Marois government in recent public opinion polls, as it faces criticism for abandoning its social-democratic principles in favour of policies that were viewed as being too conservative and strongly influenced by the business community.

"The Premier assured us that there will be no more cuts [in government spending]. … If there is a drop in revenues we were told the zero-deficit wasn't a religion," said Michel Arsenault, the president of the Quebec Federation of Labour.

According to Quebec labour leaders, governments are facing international pressure to reconsider austerity measures because of the harmful effect they are having on the economy.

"The effects of the austerity measures in Canada threaten to have an impact on job creation by as much as 120,000 to 130,000 lost jobs in 2014 and 2015. The result has been a slower economy which has led to cuts in services and when you cut services you cut jobs," said Jacques Létourneau, president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions, Quebec's second largest labour organization.

Labour leaders in Quebec are also seeking to mobilize support from national counterparts in their effort to fight new changes to the federal employment insurance plan. The Quebec Federation of Labour has been in talks with the Canadian Labour Congress to join workers in Eastern Canada in their battle against the rules.

Workers in the Maritimes and Quebec have been affected most from the changes. They have taken the streets on several occasions to battle laws they say will force many into taking low-paying jobs and even cut benefits.

"We have a responsibility to raise awareness in the rest of Canada where people appear less sensitive to this issue than in Quebec and the Maritimes," Mr. Arsenault said.

Mr. Arsenault believes Quebec labour unions have a duty to awaken the rest of Canada to austerity measures that could eventually strike at the well-being of all workers.

"It is going to hurt seasonal workers, those that are frequently unemployed. We are talking about 27,000 workers in the country with 40 per cent of them located here in Quebec. We have to mobilize everyone under the same banner," said Louise Chabot, president of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec.