STAGGERING SURPLUS IN QUEBEC BUDGET

  When Quebec Finance Minister Éric Girard tables the Coalition Avenir Québec government’s Year 1 provincial budget Thursday, he is expected to walk the line between delivering on election promises and not allowing Quebec to slip back into the debt trap.
   But bolstered by staggering surpluses, expectations are that Girard will use his budget to sprinkle the province with much needed spending — particularly in health, education and help for seniors — and slice a chunk off the debt as a precaution.
   Quebec’s finances are in much better shape those in deficit-ridden Ottawa.

   Apparently,  over reliance on equalization payments is not a factor in Quebec's low productivity rate...