Evil tongues accuse the deputy Sol Zanetti of having reached the height of exaggeration by inflating, then deflating, a balloon from his seat in the National Assembly last Thursday. I do not agree. Just before, at a press briefing, another supportive MP had done worse.
In the event that Quebec’s reception capacity is declared to be reached, or even exceeded, and that we want to limit the number of temporary immigrants to Quebec, which has increased from 47,000 in 2007 to 470,000 this year, he said this: ” If we define that it is filled [la capacité d’accueil], who are we cutting? Are we going to start carrying out mass deportations? We are going to start saying that these 100,000, who are too many, perhaps, who moved here, who had contracts, who had housing, who were given a permit, who work in the health network and in education… We will tell them: “Is it over? […] You know what, we apologize, we brought you here for nothing, we made a mistake, ultimately, we don’t have the capacity to have you”? »
I will amaze you. This is a deputy who until now was considered credible and calm: Guillaume Cliche-Rivard. He is a lawyer and immigration expert. How can he not know that we are talking here about temporary workers who, as their name suggests, are indeed temporary. The vast majority of foreign students who populate McGill and Concordia and anglicize the city center take off as soon as they have their diploma in hand. The vast majority of agricultural workers fly to reunite with their Latin American families once the harvest is over. The others all know that their stay has an expiration date, to which they freely consented.
In short, if we decided, according to the figure mentioned, to now admit 100,000 fewer people, which would still keep us at an excessively high historical level, it would be enough to wait for those who wish to leave to leave again and not to give authorizations only 370,000 candidates, rather than 470,000.
The introduction of the term “deportation” into a debate on immigration which has been taking place for several months in a peaceful context is simply shameful. If he values his credibility, Cliche-Rivard must make amends.
Basically, he says he does not know whether or not our reception capacity has been reached. He would like a team of experts to look into the issue. It’s such a good idea that I proposed it in 2018 when there were only a quarter of the current number of temporary workers in the territory.
We can, as the Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, does, through a call for research projects, obtain a more detailed and regionalized analysis. But refusing to admit today that the addition of hundreds of thousands of additional people over the past five years is aggravating the housing, health and daycare crises reminds me of those who, faced with the harmful effects of tobacco or global warming, called for more studies.
Fortunately, a large number of Quebecers have heard of the law of supply and demand. At the beginning of October, 71% of them (like 68% of Canadians) told pollster Ipsos that imposing an admission cap on foreign students would be a good way to reduce pressure on affordable housing. Logically, 75% of Quebecers (71% of Canadians) think that immigration targets should be lowered until the housing crisis is resolved. (Memo to the QS politburo: this sentiment is shared by 66% of 18-34 year olds, your main electorate.)
Who among us, apart from elected representatives in solidarity, is among the dissidents of the law of supply and demand? The federal government, of course. The incredible Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, recently reiterated that more immigrants were needed to build more housing. (Marc, this would only work if they built them before arriving or if they took them with them. Just think about it.)
More down to earth, his colleague Pablo Rodriguez, who seems to admit the existence of a problem, claimed that the increase in the number of temporary workers was Quebec’s fault. Mme Fréchette asserts on the contrary that it is the fault of the federal government. Can we know who wins this edifying Pontius Pilate competition?
Tuesday, in these pages, specialist Anne-Michèle Meggs clearly placed the responsibility on the shoulders of Quebec.
With the exception of asylum seekers, Quebec undoubtedly has the power to reduce the number of foreign students, who account for 44% of temporary workers, but it does not want to; he undoubtedly has the power to limit the number of temporary workers (17%), but he does not want to.
On the rest, the 36% of the International Mobility Program, Quebec failed to require a right of veto when it was created during the Harper era. The Legault government – in power during the explosion of temporary workers and in possession since April 2022 of a report from experts Pierre Fortin and Marc Termotte informing it of its “loss of control” of the file – chose not to use the lever at its disposal: demand, as the Canada-Quebec agreement allows, the opening of discussions that would allow it to regain control.
In short, while 7 out of 10 Quebecers know that the explosion in the number of immigrants makes the housing crisis untenable – and probably insoluble -, among other things, we are in the presence of a united opposition fantasizing about massive “deportations” and of a CAQ government which claims to be nationalist, but refuses to use the powers that the nation already holds.
In short, welcome to Quebec.
Jean-François Lisée led the PQ from 2016 to 2018. He has just published Through the mouth of my pencils, published by Somme tout/Le Devoir. [email protected]