I am not an expert in economics or public policy. I am an ordinary citizen who follows public affairs. I am a father on whom the strike is having repercussions. I was a federal civil servant in another life. I am now in the private sector. I have diverse experiences and perspectives.
I am neither for nor against the strike. Neither for the unions nor for the government. As some Quebecers seem to forget, these are complex issues that go beyond good feelings. Living in Montreal, I realize that teachers here can hardly live on their salary. On the other hand, I hear very well the message from the Governor of the Bank of Canada saying that the Quebec government must limit its annual spending increases to 2% if we want to hope to control inflation. Otherwise, the wage increases will probably have no effect for union members and will have the effect of making us all collectively poorer.
I will not discuss here what we call normative – work arrangements. I have too much respect for those who really know their stuff, on both sides of the negotiating tables, to interfere in this debate. For the financial question, it’s simpler for us, simple taxpayers. And it is for this reason that something must be explained to me: how can a teacher in a school in Montreal make the same salary as a teacher in Saguenay? Why, in our Quebec which calls itself fair and equitable, are we incapable of distinguishing equality and equity?
In the private sector, many employers have salary indexation scales depending on the employee’s place of work. With the rise of teleworking, some employers have even started to index salaries based on the place of residence of an employee who is fully teleworking. Some might quickly see this as a form of injustice and discrimination: equal pay for equal work. It’s a bit short.
Salary indexation according to place of work has been implemented in the American federal public service for more than three decades. For example, a civil servant working in Manhattan receives a considerably higher salary than if he or she held the same position in Omaha, Nebraska.
We see the same thing at the UN. Otherwise, no one would want to work in their New York headquarters or Geneva offices, where living costs are among the highest in the world.
In Quebec, the cost of living varies considerably from one region to another. The job market too. What is considered a fair and attractive salary in Saguenay or Trois-Rivières will not be so in Montreal or Fermont.
According to the 2023 median rents established jointly by the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ) and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the median rent for a 4 and a half is $1,745 in Montreal, $1,375 in Quebec, $1,025 in Trois-Rivières and $930 in Saguenay. According to data from the 3rd quarter of 2023 from the Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers of Quebec (APCIQ), the median price of a single-family home in Montreal is $555,000, while it is $352,000 in Quebec, $310,000 in Trois-Rivières and $255,000 in Saguenay. These are abysmal gaps. We are talking about singles to doubles between Saguenay and Montreal.
These official figures confirm what we all know. Cousin Sophie, who works as a teacher in a public school in Trois-Rivières, earns a good living in current conditions. She has savings, she owns a nice house that has been largely paid for, her credit cards are paid off and she pays for a trip to Punta Cana once a year.
Cousin Marie-Claude, who works as a teacher in a public school in Montreal, is struggling financially. She lives paycheck to paycheck and clings as best she can to her condo, the mortgage of which she can no longer afford with rising interest rates. Similar examples of regional disparities are legion within other professions of Quebec state employees.
Small note to unions: you should also think about regional realities in the interest of your members and, above all… stop comparing yourself with the Canadian average when it comes to remuneration.
Quebec is far from being in the Canadian average in terms of cost of living. We are at the bottom of the Canadian provinces in terms of CPI. In terms of real estate, according to October 2023 figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), the average house price in Quebec is $490,504, or 34% lower than the Canadian average of 656,625 $.
In a world with limited collective resources, I appeal to our lucidity and our sense of fairness. We can no longer ignore regional disparities when it comes to salaries in public services.
