Justin Trudeau assured Thursday that his government is doing everything possible to reach the thresholds for Francophone immigration, hours after the publication of a survey indicating that for most Quebecers, the arrival of non-Francophones is a threat to French. in the province.
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Reacting to this sounding, Mr. Trudeau said that Quebec and Ottawa were working in partnership on this file to accelerate the arrival of French-speaking immigrants in La Belle Province and in the rest of Canada.
“We also recognize that we are in a labor shortage and it takes more people. We will continue to work to reach the thresholds of Francophone immigration, but it is a job that we do very well together, ”he argued during a press scrum on Thursday morning.
The survey by the firm Léger on behalf of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) indicated that nearly 68% of Quebecers questioned are in favor of verifying that all immigrants already speak French before being awarded a selection certificate from the Quebec.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage and Lieutenant of Quebec, Pablo Rodriguez, assured that we must “insist more on the level of francization”.
“I think there is a role for each level of government. I think we have to work together, that’s what we’re doing now. Can we work better, faster? Probably, because there are still deadlines. We have to do it faster,” he said.
The Bloc Québécois, for its part, supported Quebec City’s wish to obtain more powers in the area of immigration.
“Well beyond the question of the survey and what the population wants, the situation in Quebec is special, we have a capacity for integration that is different because people have to speak French here to be well. integrate and there are blockages at the level of federal-Quebec collaboration on immigration,” said Christine Normandin, deputy party leader during a press scrum.
“When we hear Mr. Trudeau mention that everything is fine, Madame la Marquise, there is good collaboration with Quebec, I remain a little surprised,” she said.
For the Conservatives, most of the jurisdiction over this issue should be left to Quebec.
“Conservatives support the principle of protecting French language and culture, and our preference is to let the Government of Quebec legislate in areas of shared federal and provincial jurisdiction to establish its own language requirements for immigrants to Quebec” said Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative Shadow Minister for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
No increase in immigration expected
Survey respondents also argued that Quebec should maintain the annual number of immigrants accepted into Quebec, which is at a threshold of 50,000 for the time being. This vision reinforced the position of the Quebec premier, who reiterated Thursday that he does not want to increase immigration levels in the province.
“All things considered, Quebec already receives more immigrants than the United States or France. We must respect the integration capacity of these people, and therefore there is no question of increasing the 50,000, “said François Legault on the sidelines of a trip to Saguenay.
While some were counting on the arrival of immigrants to fill jobs in the province, Mr. Legault argued that he hopes to “solve the labor shortage essentially through productivity”.
Regarding the passage of asylum seekers through Roxham Road, the federal Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino, acknowledged that this is a “pressure for Quebec.”
“This is exactly why the federal government is looking for several ways to work closely with the Quebec government. Each year, a lot of resources and a lot of money have been transferred to provide concrete support for the Government of Quebec for the creation of settlement services, for newcomers and even for asylum seekers,” he said. -he adds.