She strongly criticized a scheme proposed by the Liberal government of Robert Bourassa in 1993, wherein recipients would be forced to perform several hours of unpaid work to receive their cheques.
Champagne argued that this arrangement devalued both paid and voluntary work, adding that the government should concentrate on providing real job opportunities.
[3] After the narrow defeat of the sovereigntist side, she criticized a decision by Jacques Parizeau's Parti Québécois government to cut social assistance by three per cent.
[4] The following year, Champagne compared the policies of Lucien Bouchard (Parizeau's successor as PQ leader and premier) with those pursued by the right-wing governments of Mike Harris and Ralph Klein in Ontario and Alberta.
[5] She called on the government to combat poverty by increasing taxes on corporations and those earning more than $70,000 per year, rather than by imposing further restrictions on low-income Quebecers.