General

Where would you cut to balance the budget?

If you haven’t yet read John’s piece about how difficult it’s going to be to balance the budget, what are you waiting for? In much the same vein, the good folks at Léger Marketing (yes, this is another poll-related story) have released the results of a survey in which they asked Quebecers where they would cut if they were given free rein to get Quebec City back in the black.

Here are the top 10 suggestions:

  1. End the financing of private schools.
  2. Significantly increase taxes on business.
  3. Allow the establishment of fully-private health clinics.
  4. Introduce tolls on certain bridges and roads.
  5. Bring in a system to moderate access to health services.
  6. Abolish school boards.
  7. Close down Quebec’s diplomatic outposts.
  8. Significantly increase the user fees for $7 per day daycare.
  9. Abolish CEGEPs and tack on an extra year for high school.
  10. Significantly reduce subsidies for festivals and cultural events.

The last item on the list is especially intriguing—I seem to recall there being a bit of a backlash last time someone tried it. Otherwise, no big suprises, except perhaps that Quebecers really don’t seem to have much of a problem with user fees.

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