Economy

The Green Party of Quebec is committed to an ecosocialist vision, which involves protecting the environment while providing quality public services to the population. We are deeply concerned about social inequalities and the need to build a fairer, more equitable society.

Economic justice 

For the Green Party of Quebec, it is imperative to ensure good conditions for workers in Quebec. Quebec is lagging behind when it comes to defending workers' rights, and an upgrade is needed to ensure working conditions. 

The Green Party of Quebec is proposing a series of measures to ensure that various workers' rights are respected: 

• Strengthen penalties regarding the employer's duty to ensure a harassment-free workplace.

• Introduce paid family leave in cases of domestic violence.

• Introduce an early retirement scheme for workers in physically demanding jobs. 

• Improving access to pension plans for people with disabilities 
• Ensuring the right to disconnect
• Offer 4 weeks of vacation
• Give workers the right to choose part-time work, without penalty. Part-time (includes vulnerable, minimum-wage jobs). 
• Offer more protection to vulnerable employees. These are the people most at risk from employer abuse. 
• In addition to sick leave, launch a campaign to raise awareness of the growing need for mental health leave. 

Raising taxes on the richest

The Green Party of Quebec is proposing to increase the number of tax brackets, in increments of 10,000$ rather than 20,000$, in order to further tax people who earn more than 120,000$ per year. This higher number of brackets will enable the government to tax the wealthiest according to the size of their income. The total tax rate (including federal taxes) will not exceed 75%. Those earning less than 100,000$ a year are already sufficiently taxed (up to a combined rate of 50%) and will see no tax increase.

Raising taxes on large corporations

The Green Party of Quebec proposes tripling provincial taxes for large corporations . On the other hand, the Green Party will not raise taxes on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), will encourage their development, and is committed to encouraging the development through economic incentives (tax cuts, subsidies, etc.) of cooperatives that follow an innovative model favoring the redistribution and sharing of wealth within their communities.

Capital tax on financial institutions

The Green Party of Quebec supports a tax of 1.5% per year on the capital of financial institutions. This tax would generate more than $500 million a year and will be used to finance free education, from daycare to university.

Tax equality and limits on executive salaries 

L’écart de richesse entre les plus démunis et les riches se creuse d’année en année. Le Parti Vert du Québec croit profondément que l’iniquité croissante doit cesser. Le PVQ propose de plafonner le salaire des dirigeants d’entreprises à 20 fois le salaire moyen au sein de l’entreprise. 

Single tax return

To reduce the bureaucratic burden on Quebecers and the state, the Green Party of Quebec is proposing the introduction of a single tax return managed by the Quebec state. This would generate savings of nearly $400 million for the state, and even more for citizens.

Labour shortage 

La pandémie a accru la pénurie de main-d’œuvre déjà existante au Québec, combinée au vieillissement de la population et à l’amélioration de la situation économique. Le Parti Vert du Québec propose de : 

•  Focus on worker training. Training must be easily accessible and of high quality to guarantee workers' employability. 
•  Revaloriser les secteurs en crise. Certains secteurs d’emploi souffrent d’une pénurie de main-d’œuvre en raison des conditions de travail qui sont attachées à l’emploi : les secteurs de santé et services sociaux en sont un exemple. En s’assurant d’améliorer les conditions de travail, nous encourageons un renouvellement des travailleur-euse-s.
•  Facilitate the transition to working from home when employment conditions allow. 
•  Recognize more foreign diplomas to fill more jobs.

Minimum wage - 20$/H

Le Parti Vert du Québec appuie l’augmentation rapide du salaire minimum pour atteindre 20$/h d’ici le printemps 2023. Cette augmentation du salaire minimum sera combinée avec des modifications au Code du travail, qui interdira aux employeurs de réduire les bénéfices (pauses café, assurances, etc.) pour contrer la hausse du salaire minimum. Ce salaire minimum sera également indexé à l’inflation.

Guaranteed minimum income - lifting all of Quebec out of poverty

The Green Party of Quebec proposes to introduce a guaranteed minimum income of $1200 per month to lift all Quebecers out of poverty. This amount will be increased for people with illnesses or physical or mental disabilities. This program will eventually replace the social assistance program. All residents will be unconditionally eligible. There will also be a work exemption of $600 per month to enable people to work part-time without compromising their access to the program.

Modulating fines according to offenders' income 

In several countries, such as Finland, fines for offences are determined according to the income of those charged with the offence. This has the effect of bringing a degree of fairness to the issuing of fines, which currently have a much harsher impact on low-income earners than on the middle and wealthier classes. Under this system, fines awarded to offenders are calculated on the basis of the number of days of private income they have earned. The aim of this policy is to establish more equitable justice and counter the current imbalance in the justice and fines system, which is heavily biased in favor of the wealthiest.

Technological advances and shorter working hours 

The Green Party of Quebec is proposing to gradually reduce the length of the workweek to 32 hours per week by the year 2024.

Pour se conformer à cette loi, les entreprises seront tenues de maintenir la rémunération hebdomadaire au même niveau (ou plus élevé) qu’elles versent aux employé-e-s pour 40h par semaine. Le Parti Vert du Québec s’inscrit dans une volonté de réduire le temps mis sur le travail et de rediriger vers le bien-être et l’épanouissement de la population.

Fighting for the renegotiation of trade agreements

The Green Party of Quebec supports the renegotiation of many of these agreements to protect local businesses, the circular economy, local food and the environmental realities of our time. We also support measures to encourage ethical trade; we believe that trade and political relations cannot be treated separately. Government must respect its own principles when doing business.

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