By Sharon McCully
You don’t have to be a math whiz to put two and two together.
The CAQ is staring down a $13.6 billion deficit, the largest in history, and
frantically shaking the money tree hoping to recoup taxpayer dollars lost through mismanagement of files like the digital transformation of the Quebec Auto Insurance board (SAAQ).
Cost overruns for the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ’s) failed digital transformation alone will cost taxpayers $500 million more than expected, according to the auditor general. Hearings into the SAAQ debacle coincided with last week’s announced cuts to education of – you guessed it – $510 million.
The education minister claims the cuts are necessary to realign education spending which has increased by 58 per cent over the past five years.
Surely the government doesn’t need to be reminded education is not an expense, it’s an investment. Failure to invest now will result in lost productivity and tax revenue down the road.
It’s indisputable that investment in education has risen exponentially, but context is important.
From 2020 to 2023, Quebec was plunged into a world-wide pandemic. And while it would be sound business practice to bring extraordinary pandemic spending back in line once the crisis has passed, the spike in spending in education was in part due to existing shortfalls.
A Conseil Superieur de l’education study on the impact of Covid, notes that pre-pandemic funding of education was inadequate and unpredictable.
“Monies injected to manage health measures and other challenges triggered by the pandemic are not likely to resolve the issue if the funding is merely a stop-gap measure,” it warned.
The report cited the run-down state of some facilities which hampered compliance with health measures, and the lack of autonomy in allocating funds based on local needs.
The report goes on: “The funding model for adult education, largely dependent on the number of full-time equivalent students and graduation rates, is also failing to meet the needs of this student population, not to mention contributing to the precarious situation of teachers. Changes in enrolment due to the pandemic (i.e. numbers, choice of programs) are likely to impact education funding in the coming years. “
The sudden and urgent need to bring schools up to standard to meet stringent health measures, along with the need for new digital technology to adapt to remote learning resulted in higher costs.
Add to that the pedagogical fallout of students being out of school for extended periods, the need for remediation, attendant socio-economic factors that affected families, the need to address vulnerabilities in the classroom, and the reason for new educational investment becomes clear.
The complexities that followed Covid cannot be understated.
According to a report in La Presse last week, the number of children referred to Quebec’s Youth Protection service (DPJ) in 2025 rose by 5 per cent to 141,622. These children, who are experiencing neglect or abuse, spend their days in Quebec classrooms. Before attending to their educational needs, teachers often have to ensure they have food, and a supportive learning environment. Educators devote great care and attention to ensuring each child, from gifted student to those with special needs, has a learning path that will optimize their chances for success.
Extracurricular activities that help children develop social and leadership skills, discover their hidden talents, learn team play and perseverance, complete the educational experience.
This is what the government wants to take away.
The Eastern Townships School Board has been told to cut $6.5 million, roughly 5 per cent of its total budget which was already stretched to the limit following a $200 million cut to the provincial education budget earlier this year.
These cuts are personal. All of us know teachers, students, support staff who will be affected. We understand full well how these cuts will negatively affect the most vulnerable students, robbing them of an opportunity to experience success. Speech therapy is not a luxury, it is a necessity. Classroom assistants who spend time with children who require individual attention, provide support not only to that student, but to the teacher who is then able to teach the remainder of the class without disruption.
Our community stands solidly behind our teachers and school administrators who so passionately care about the success and well-being of each and every child in their orbit.
Two years ago, in the midst of a financial crisis, MNAs voted to give themselves a $30,000 raise. At the time Premier Legault told reporters that politicians have “the right to earn as much money as possible to give as much as possible to their children.”
They do. But taxpayers pay these politicians’ salaries so they will provide as much as possible to all Quebec children, not just their own.
