(Drummondville) If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau persists in refusing to cede all powers in immigration to Quebec, the Legault government must hold a referendum on the issue, CAQ activists have proposed to their party’s convention. A proposal that was deemed inadmissible and therefore could not be put to the vote.
Posted at 1:51 p.m.
Updated at 3:16 p.m.
The members – a thousand according to the CAQ – adopted the 23 nationalist and identity-based proposals in two hours on Saturday.
One of the proposals is François Legault’s workhorse in anticipation of the elections: the Quebec government is asked to “reiterate” its request to the federal government to “transfer all immigration powers to it as quickly as possible”. Quebec must hold all the powers in the selection of permanent and temporary immigrants “in order to preserve the vitality of French and the demographic weight of Francophones”, we plead.
However, activist Kevin Serafini, from Terrebonne, recalled that the Trudeau government has already refused to respond to François Legault’s request. “We have repeatedly repeated this request. Canada has said no every time since the government of Robert Bourassa. However, each time, we take our hole. Enough foolishness! He suggested that the government commit to holding a referendum on the transfer of immigration powers. “The first initiative of the next legislature should be the organization of a referendum on immigration,” he said. A debate moderator refused to allow this amendment to be made.
A few moments later, Isabelle Vaillancourt, activist in Côte-Sud, in turn asked that the idea of a referendum be retained.
The moderator, the member for Jean-Talon Joëlle Boutin, also refused that an amendment to this effect be added and put to the vote. “We will leave the negotiation [sur les pouvoirs en immigration] in the hands” of the government, she explained.
The proposal as presented by the political commission was adopted by the activists.
Among the other proposals adopted during the first day of the convention, the CAQ wants to “emphasize the learning of knowledge related to Quebec culture and society within the framework of francization and integration courses” intended for newcomers.
For Kevin Serafini, who was warmly applauded, “this proposal is not anti-immigrant or xenophobic”.
We are not afraid of strangers. We want to adopt them, so that they are not our competitors but our brothers and our sisters. True anti-racism, true living together, true solidarity, is this policy. It is assimilation and nationalism.
Kevin Serafini, activist
The CAQ wants to review the French programs at the elementary and secondary levels in order to improve language proficiency. She militates for the creation of a museum of the national History of Quebec and research chairs in the universities which “would prioritize, in various fields, the study of Quebec and which would correspond to its priorities”.
In a proposal that clashed a little with the main theme of the convention – “pride” – the government was asked to “improve […] efficiency of the State, while reflecting on the number, size and structure of ministries and public bodies”. Activists have deplored that this proposal is “too vague”, not strong enough. They suggested that the party commit to reducing the number of ministries. This amendment was ruled out of order. The Legault government will have added two ministries during its mandate (that of Cybersecurity and Digital, and that of the French Language).