Quebec says it’s prioritizing health and education. Is that reality or just branding? [Video]

The day after Quebec presented a budget clouded by an $11-billion projected deficit, Premier François Legault wanted to clear the air — with receipts.

“It’s not true that it’s the worst” budget in the province’s history, he proclaimed last week, bar chart in hand. “It’s the sixth worst!”

Quebec’s projected deficit corresponds to 1.5 per cent of the province’s GDP, which is how Legault prefers to look at it.

He pointed to previous Liberal Party of Quebec and Parti Québécois governments faring worse. The latter, he said, ran a 1.7 per cent deficit relative to GDP in 1996-97.

But the latest Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) budget remains the highest projected deficit in real dollars for any Quebec government. Even when excluding Generations Fund contributions and the province’s contingency reserve, the deficit stands at an imposing $8.8 billion.

The Generations Fund is a legal obligation unique to Quebec meant to speed …