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Quebec Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard says Parti Québécois talk of sovereignty referendum will scare away business investment.
MONTREAL—Quebec Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard is promising to create a quarter-million new jobs, in large part by resurrecting an old party pledge to unlock the province’s tough-to-reach northern regions and tap the mining riches below the ground.
First floated in 2008, it took three years before Couillard’s Liberal predecessor laid out the plan on the eve of a 2012 election in which his party was defeated. In scope and ambition, the so-called Plan Nord resembles Ontario’s strategy to unlock the mineral-rich Ring of Fire north of Thunder Bay. In essence, the government would build the infrastructure and the private sector would build the mines and pay royalties.
When it was first detailed, ex-Liberal premier Jean Charest said the 25-year investment in Quebec’s North would create 20,000 jobs annually, which would go a long way to meeting Couillard’s election pledge of 50,000 new jobs a year over the next five years.
The Liberal party would also use surpluses in hydroelectricity to invest in Quebec’s struggling manufacturing sector, roll out a maritime strategy to profit from the vast St. Lawrence River and dust off a provincial infrastructure investment plan.
Couillard’s Liberals are trailing Pauline Marois’ Parti Quebecois, according to polls at the outset of the campaign. A vote will be held on April 7. The Liberal leader wants to make the economy the primary issue of the election and has trashed the PQ record over 18 months in power.
He added that campaign talk of a referendum in the event of a Marois majority is the last thing investors want to hear when they consider establishing businesses in Quebec.
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