Clear and realistic-

The ADQ representatives justified Mr. Dumont's decision to wait until the end of the campaign to reveal the costs of the various programs proposed, validating at the same time their leader's promise to be a 'grinch' with finances if the ADQ wins power on March 26.

"When I met with students of Collège Letendre, I said that Quebec might be compared to a company that's in a state of near-bankruptcy. So, when things are not going well in a company, the finances must be closely scrutinized and expenses must be brought under control. What Mr. Dumont proposes is quite simple. The expenses part of the budget is financed by the revenue side," stated Robert Goulet, candidate in Laval-des-Rapides.

According to Mr. Goulet, the trimming of government fat by reducing expenses by 1%, and removing 25,000 people from the welfare rolls would greatly improve the province's financial situation.

This was the ADQ team's response to Michelle Courchesne who stated that the ADQ objectives were unrealistic and unattainable because "the maximum number of welfare recipients who could return to work numbered 12,500, the rest being unable to do so because of all sorts of problems, especially addiction to drugs and alcohol."

"It’s not impossible," retorted François Gaudreau, candidate in Vimont. "We will work with the federal government to attain our objectives. The people who return to the work force will retain their allocations for a period of time, to help them through the period of transition. Sure, 25,000 is an ambitious total, but even if we come under our objective it will be more than the Liberals have been able to accomplish." Mr. Gaudreau added that the money recovered through this measure would be used to increase the allocations made to those who were truly unable to work.

According to Mr. Pilotte, the people are not in favour of the project. "On the hustings, that's what I detect – it's no! There are groups forming in opposition to the Hippodrome already. That’s why the people must be consulted before taking any action."

(Photo:Martin Alarie)