When Premier Legault spoke of the various “options” he was considering if Ottawa persisted in rejecting his immigration applications, no one imagined for a single moment that one of them could be to orchestrate the overthrow of the Trudeau government. It’s like Columbus’ egg: all you had to do was think of it!
From time to time, the Prime Minister’s impulsiveness never ceases to amaze. We understand his frustration at being relegated to the role of the turkey in the farce and having to give the spectacle of his impotence, but he certainly cannot plead surprise.
It has now been nine years since the repatriation of “full powers in the selection of immigrants,” with the exception of refugees, but including family reunification, appeared at the top of the list of demands formulated in the “New project for Quebec nationalists” developed by the CAQ. During all these years, Mr. Legault has constantly repeated that it was a question of survival for the Quebec nation.
Granted, the pandemic had the effect of delaying things, but the Prime Minister assured that Ottawa could not ignore the “strong mandate” that he had requested and obtained in 2022. It is hard to believe that it took him this long to understand that these discussions were leading nowhere. Naivety can sometimes serve as a screen for duplicity.
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According to him, it is not he who should bear the responsibility for this failure, but rather the leader of the PQ, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who does not have the “courage” to ask his “comrade” from the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, to support the motion of censure against the Trudeau government that Pierre Poilievre will present in the House of Commons next week.
There is always an element of theatre in politics, but now we are moving towards Grand Guignol.
Granted, the Prime Minister’s little stunt was entertaining. He even managed to make us forget for a moment the difficult start to the parliamentary session that his government is experiencing, but where would Quebec find its benefit in his scenario? At no point did Mr. Poilievre give the slightest sign that he would be willing to grant Quebec the powers that the CAQ is demanding. Moreover, no country in the world would agree to give up all control over immigration on a part of its territory. Such control is inseparable from its sovereignty.
If Mr. Legault did not want to hold a referendum on the repatriation of immigration powers, as he himself had suggested, it is because he knew very well that this would not shake the federal government, no matter who led it, and that he would then have to choose between crushing it and a headlong rush that would take him God knows where.
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It was apparently the refusal of other provinces to accept a more equitable sharing of asylum seekers that led Mr. Legault to the height of exasperation. But does he seriously believe that Mr. Poilievre would force the hand of the “nonos conservatives” who lead them, as federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller called them?
If the Prime Minister believes that Quebec would be better off with a Poilievre government, this is clearly not the opinion of Quebecers, for whom Justin Trudeau remains despite everything a lesser evil. They are not all in the image of the soft conservatism and nationalism of the CAQ.
There was a time when Mr. Legault would have been happy to see the Bloc Québécois find itself in a position of strength in the House of Commons. During the 2019 federal campaign, he let his leader present himself as a sort of spokesperson who would bring his grievances to Ottawa. In 2021, he instead bet on Erin O’Toole’s Conservatives, with the mixed results that we know.
From being a spokesperson, the Bloc has instead become a scapegoat, which the Prime Minister has held responsible for his own inability to extract concessions from the Trudeau government. Last February, it was when Paul St-Pierre Plamondon criticized him for his failure on the temporary immigration file that Mr. Legault said: “What is the use of the Bloc Québécois in Ottawa?”
The Bloc can hardly be blamed for not having relayed Quebec’s demands. The problem would rather be that by continually reiterating them, it has forced the Trudeau government to multiply its rebuffs.
A change of guard in Ottawa would at least allow Mr. Legault to buy time. Before resuming discussions, the new government should be given time to settle in, follow through on its main commitments, etc. In the meantime, the next general election in Quebec may have allowed Mr. Legault to pass the problem on to his successor.