François Legault and Justin Trudeau are planning a meeting before the end of March to discuss immigration after a letter from the Quebec Prime Minister addressed to his federal counterpart at the start of the year went unanswered.
On January 17, Prime Minister François Legault took up his pen to address four formal requests to the Canadian government.
Quebec demanded:
- Curbing the influx of asylum seekers entering Canada by tightening visa requirements
- Distribute asylum seekers fairly across Canadian territory
- Closing loopholes that would allow criminal groups to infiltrate the country
- Reimburse to Quebec the sums incurred for the reception of asylum seekers
“This is an urgent matter of the utmost importance, which must be resolved as a whole,” wrote Mr. Legault.
Six weeks later, the Canadian Prime Minister’s office had still not responded to the letter from its provincial counterpart or even sent a formal acknowledgment of receipt, confirms François Legault’s spokesperson.
“The letter was sent by mail, by email, as well as to Mr. Trudeau’s entourage. We had verbal discussions about the contents of the letter afterwards. The federal government is very aware of our requests,” explains Ewan Sauves.
Quebec has been discussing the matter with the Canadian Prime Minister’s office “for weeks,” he notes.
Well aware of Quebec’s requests, a source in Ottawa stressed Thursday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is preparing to meet Mr. Legault in March to discuss this thorny issue, information later confirmed in Quebec.
- Listen to the Lisée – Montpetit meeting with Jean-François Lisée and Marie Montpetit via QUB:
Mexican visas
“The federal government announced today the return of Mexican visas, it was one of our requests. Mexican asylum seekers represented 25% of asylum seekers arriving in Quebec in 2023. Quebec has been heard!” says the spokesperson for the CAQ Prime Minister.
Indeed, Ottawa will tighten the granting of visas to Mexican citizens, with the exception of agricultural workers and foreign students. The measure will affect around 40% of Mexican travelers.
According to the Canadian government, Mexicans made up 17% of all asylum applications in 2023 and most were rejected or withdrawn by applicants.
Other measures
Passing through the Laurentians, François Legault briefly commented on Ottawa’s decision Thursday morning. While recognizing that this is a “good gesture”, the Prime Minister emphasizes that several measures remain to be put in place. Some 160,000 asylum seekers are currently on Quebec territory, according to its government.
“We will need a much greater reaction and I will meet Mr. Trudeau in the coming weeks,” said Mr. Legault. We need to distribute these people to the other provinces. Quebec cannot provide services to all these people.”
For the years 2021 to 2023, the Legault government is now demanding more than $1 billion from the Canadian government for the reception of asylum seekers on its territory.
With AFP and Raphaël Pirro