Premier Bernard Landry had poverty on his election campaign agenda Monday, saying his government has one of the best records of fighting poverty in North America.

However, he couldn't answer why that policy has cut payments to some social assistance recipients.

$22 million per year

Landry introduced Camil Bouchard Monday, his candidate in Vachon. Bouchard is a university professor the Parti Québécois is counting on to beef up its credibility on policies to help the poor.

Landry says his PQ would invest another $22 million per year for disadvantaged families with young children.

"The object is to lower the child poverty level," he says, "to one of the lowest in the world."

But neither Bouchard nor the PQ leader were ready to answer why at least one category of social assistance took a cut under the PQ.

Numbers the PQ isn't boasting about

In 1995, a person on social assistance in a program helping them look for work to get off welfare received $650 per month.

Back then, prescription drugs were free for those on assistance.

By 2001, someone in the same situation had $23 dollars less per month.

Landry tried to discredit the numbers, telling reporters the information was inaccurate, and therefore should not be brought up.

The figures were supplied by a poverty group the PQ leader and his candidate had just praised for its work.

Landry says charity-run community kitchens and new government services for the poor are there to compensate when the social assistance cheque doesn't go far enough.

Liberals' tax plan

The Liberals, too, have a plan to help families in tough times. Leader Jean Charest says his party would cut $1 billion dollars per year in taxes over five years.

"One of the very important initiatives in our plan that really hasn't come up and been talked about a lot is an increase of $850 million in funding to help people who are out of work ... to make a transition back into the labour market," Charest says.

Although Charest insists his numbers hold up, Landry is criticizing the Liberal plan to freeze the budgets of all departments and concentrate on health and education.

"He said he will block everything," Landry says. "Read my lips. Block everything but education and health. So if he is blocking everything, how could he possibly give money to child care? It's elementary."

ADQ would help business

Action Démocratique du Québec leader Mario Dumont's take on this is that a better economy is better for families. So he says the ADQ would cut down on red tape for small businesses.

"It's about making Quebec a place where, if you have projects, if you want to start a little business, you're likely to have as much success in Quebec, not more licenses that are longer to get and that are more costly to get than elsewhere," Dumont says.

Although all three main parties seem to disagree on how best to help disadvantaged families, it wasn't always like this.

Back in December, the National Assembly passed a law requiring the government to take steps to combat poverty, and the vote was unanimous.