The Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, is not closing the door to a “revision” of Accompagnement Québec, a free government service aimed at helping immigrants in their integration, and to make it better known. “It’s one of the tools we have, we’re going to make sure our tools are optimal,” she said. “We’re going to do a review. And if there is a lack of knowledge of this tool, we will make sure to make it more visible. »
The duty revealed Thursday that this service was unknown to the vast majority of newcomers wishing to settle in Quebec and that it was criticized by several immigrant aid organizations who see little use in it. Last year, just over 12,000 people benefited from an assessment of their needs by Accompagnement Québec, while hundreds of thousands of immigrants received a pass to reside permanently or temporarily in Quebec. Some organizations said they were unaware of what this service does while others deplored certain duplication of their work.
Questioned on the subject in the chamber, Minister Fréchette explained that her government had to redeploy regional offices and support services to better welcome immigrants in the regions, “because the Liberal Party had quite simply dismantled it,” -she said, scratching her opponent in the process. “We rebuilt this network. Not only did we reopen it, but we consolidated it, we expanded it and we continue to do so. »
Accompagnement Québec is one of its tools, she stressed. “Maybe he’s not well-known enough. If that’s the issue, and that seems to be what’s emerging, well, we’re going to work on giving it more visibility. »
The opposition parties have said they have questions about this service which they describe as a failure. “Accompagnement Québec, which was supposed to be the flagship of welcoming and supporting immigrants, barely manages to serve 10% of its clientele. Another CAQ failure,” said André A. Morin, Liberal MP for Acadia and spokesperson for the Official Opposition on Immigration.
Declaring that this is “another observation of failure”, the solidarity MP for Saint-Henri-Sainte-Anne, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, does not however advocate the abolition of Accompagnement Québec. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea. I think this demonstrates the CAQ’s inability to deliver the goods when it comes to immigration,” he said during a press briefing. “I think we have immense integration challenges. And the organizations reminded us that they play this role [et] that[ils] do not understand duplication. I think there is work to be done on that.”
PQ MP Pascal Bérubé maintains that it is the minister’s responsibility to ensure that her programs work well but also believes that the program should be reformed rather than abandoned. “I always prefer to reform an existing program than to create one at all costs,” he said. “I think we have to give the program a chance, because it takes money to implement it, time, training. »