With a Quebec budget around the corner, we demand a strong commitment to social and fiscal justice on the government’s behalf! Quebec’s next budget will determine in large part our ability to get through this crisis, as well as other crises that may arise. Quebec’s population has suffered enough from cuts to public services and social programs. It is high time to commit to strengthening the social safety net!
Quebec must choose a fairer tax system and collect money from where it lies: in the coffers of the wealthiest, whose estates are accumulating wealth much faster than those of middle-class and lower-class households. The wealthiest must contribute more if we wish to re-establish our social safety net, ruined by years of neoliberal politics.
Choosing to invest in one social mission at the cost of another is a political choice. There is another way. Economic recovery doesn’t have to revolve around commerce; it can also strengthen our social safety net.
It is therefore imperative to invest more in the strengthening of the social safety net if we wish to protect ourselves from crises, or get through them, at least! Our education, health, and social services networks, as well as educational daycare services, are important parts of our social safety net, in the same manner as the public services we value so much. Fighting climate change requires, among other things, reinvesting in the environment.
The housing crisis is proof that we must invest massively in social housing. In order to counter persistent social inequalities, we must do more to fight poverty and homelessness. Our social safety net must bring programs that respond to critical current and future needs together. We must make sure that no one is left behind so that seniors and people with special needs have access to the services they need and live out their lives with dignity.
Community action groups created by the people, for the people, to defend its rights and improve its conditions, are being shortchanged as well.
Truly recognizing the work of those who keep the public services sector and community organizations alive throughout the province, most of whom are women in both cases, is an integral part of the reform.
Economic recovery must include the initiation of a rapid ecological transition that is socially just and respectful of rights.
We must act now. A social safety net would allow our communities to be more resilient when faced with a crisis.
The Government of Quebec must adopt more progressive taxation and give itself the means to actively fight against socio-economic inequalities! Several tax measures that would yield $10 billion annually can be easily implemented in order to achieve this.
LET’S DEMAND A SOCIAL SAFETY NETWORK REBUILT THROUGH PUBLIC SERVICE AND SOCIAL PROGRAM REINVESTMENT
La Coalition Main rouge regroupe des organisations syndicales, féministes, communautaires et populaires depuis l'automne 2009 pour revendiquer l’accès à des services publics universels et de qualité, services qui sont indispensables pour le respect et la réalisation des droits humains pour tous et toutes. Afin d’y arriver, elle propose des politiques qui permettront de refinancer l’État de manière plus équitable, c’est-à-dire en mettant à contribution les ménages et les entreprises qui en ont les moyens et en protégeant les revenus nécessaires pour assurer à tout le monde un niveau de vie décent.
