It ‘confirms one more time the economic failure of the CAQ government,’ says Dufour
The Laval region’s two Quebec Liberal MNAs are lashing out at the Coalition Avenir Québec government after Premier François Legault’s team made major cuts to public services in Laval as part of the 2025-2026 budget that included a record $13.6 billion deficit.
“This budget, marked by an irresponsible management of public finances, confirms one more time the economic failure of the CAQ government,” the two said in a statement.
Metro extension forgotten
They pointed out that in spite of numerous requests by Laval residents for the extension of the Metro system’s orange line, financing for an already-established project bureau to explore the logistics for the task appears to have been forgotten.
Mille-Îles Liberal MNA Virginie Dufour, who is the Quebec Liberals’ official spokesperson on issues affecting Laval, maintained this a “broken promise” which demonstrated that mobility and access to public transit by people in Laval “are clearly not a priority” for the CAQ government.
According to Dufour, the government failed to set aside any money from the Quebec Infrastructures Plan for renovation work at the Cartier youth centre, which has been the subject of news reports about the deterioration of its facilities, as well as the fact that the number of users is well beyond capacity.
Nothing for homelessness
As well, she maintained, a request by the City of Laval for recurring funding for the Laval emergency shelter, located in the Maison Saint-Joseph, was ignored for a second year by the CAQ government, even though homelessness increased in 2023 by 136 per cent among male residents of Laval and 103 per cent among females.
Dufour, who is also the PLQ’s official critic for housing, pointed out that the Legault government made no provision in the latest budget for new sums to create additional social and affordable housing in Laval. Last summer, Dufour tabled a comprehensive four-point plan for housing.
Action needed for housing
In spite of the perceived shortcomings, Dufour praised the CAQ government’s efforts in the planning of the Coalition de l’Est housing project in Saint-François, while suggesting it’s not enough.
“It would be about time that announcements of funding were translated into some shovels in the ground,” she said. “Until now, actually very few housing units which were announced with great fanfare by the CAQ have been built in Laval.”
Dufour said that with the latest budget, the CAQ government shows “it is desensitized to the reality of Quebecers. This record deficit of $13.6 billion is the result of bad decisions by this government in the management of public finances.
“Of what use is it to have in Laval four MNAs as part of the government, of which one is the minister responsible for the Laval region, if the crying needs in areas like housing, public transit, cost of living hikes, health and education are not answered,” she added.
Laval’s priorities not in budget
She said the CAQ’s four MNAs from Laval “have clearly not succeeded in inscribing the priorities of people from Laval into the budget of François Legault.” Chomedey Liberal MNA Sona Lakhoyan Olivier weighed in with her own reaction to the CAQ government’s 2025-2026 budget.
“Once again, the citizens of Laval have good reason to feel they’ve been abandoned by the CAQ government,” she said.
“If the expenses of the state don’t stop rising and the CAQ continues backward with a sixth consecutive deficit, which is an historic high, the people of Laval are asking where their money is going. Where are the CAQ MNAs from the region who have the responsibility to raise their voices in the National Assembly?”
