(Quebec) In response to the “half-measures” announced Tuesday by Prime Minister François Legault, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon will table by October “a plan to drastically reduce” permanent and temporary immigration “in all categories.”
“This is evidence of the fact that [François Legault] is completely overwhelmed by the immigration situation. He is powerless vis-à-vis the federal government. And it is not superficial and specific measures that are going to reverse a trend that is very serious,” the leader of the Parti Québécois said on Tuesday during a press briefing at the National Assembly.
The PQ leader was reacting to the Legault government’s announcement that it is imposing a six-month moratorium on issuing permits for temporary foreign workers in Montreal. François Legault and his Immigration Minister, Christine Fréchette, have also confirmed their intention to table a bill this fall to restrict the number of foreign students.
For Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, these measures come much too late. “It’s a small step, but we are no longer in the era of small steps. We are at the point of taking very firm measures to reverse a situation that is untenable, by his own admission,” he recalled.
In response, the Parti Québécois will present by October “a plan for a drastic and substantial reduction” of temporary and permanent immigration. The PQ project will affect “all categories so that the housing crisis is resolved, so that we find a balance,” he said. Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon did not want to elaborate on what a “drastic reduction” means to him.
“Expect a very, very significant contrast between the CAQ’s half-measures and the CAQ’s procrastination, on the one hand, and our desire to bring the model back to something sustainable and viable, that is to say a model that corresponds to our capacity to integrate in French, to provide equitable services to everyone and to give everyone a roof,” he summarized.
According to Statistics Canada, Quebec currently has 600,000 temporary immigrants, which includes asylum seekers, workers and foreign students. In 2021, this number was around 300,000.
Last January, the sovereignist party promised to review its targets for temporary immigration, which had become “out of control,” by the summer. The Parti Québécois also mentioned the possibility of revising downward its electoral commitment to reduce the immigration thresholds to 35,000.
At the end of the parliamentary session in June, the PQ leader specified that his plan would be presented at the end of the summer. “We have a document that is 98% ready,” he stressed.
A “two-stage” plan
What the political party also calls its response to the Initiative of the Century, a Canadian pressure group that promotes sustained growth in immigration to Canada, will be structured “in two stages,” Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon said Tuesday.
“We say: over four years, here are our objectives in each category. There are things that we can do as soon as the Parti Québécois takes power, then there are things like closing the federal temporary immigration power, then repatriating everything to Quebec […] which can only take place with the independence of Quebec,” he explained, speaking of a “substantial document.”
His plan must contain exceptions for the health and agriculture sectors where the labour shortage is greater. The PQ leader then speaks of a “transition” in stages to restore a balance.