The Legault government is ready to go to the Supreme Court to prevent asylum seekers from sending their children to CPEs and subsidized daycares.
• Read also: Asylum seekers: Quebec evokes a “humanitarian crisis”
Quebec filed a request Wednesday morning to stay the recent judgment of the Court of Appeal, which confirmed the right of migrants seeking refugee status to benefit from the province’s subsidized childcare services. The court ruled that it would be “discriminatory” to deprive them of this right.
The CAQ does not have the same reading of the situation. “We confirm our intention to appeal the judgment,” said the office of the Minister of Families, Suzanne Roy. We deeply disagree with the judges’ interpretation.
Originally, it was the liberal government of Philippe Couillard which issued a directive in 2018 specifying that asylum seekers were not eligible for CPE and subsidized daycares since they were not staying in Quebec mainly to work. A provision which has been challenged in court.
- Listen to the Lisée – Montpetit meeting with Jean-François Lisée and Marie Montpetit via QUB:
The CAQ government says it is “sensitive” to the situation of asylum seekers. But the influx of migrants has “financial and human impacts”, while there is a lack of subsidized daycare places.
“Quebec welcomes 55% of Canada’s asylum seekers even though it only represents 22% of its population. We must not forget that the children of asylum seekers have access to unsubsidized childcare services,” we insist.
Remember that the Legault government deplores the pressure that these massive arrivals are putting on public services. The CAQ even brandished the risk of a “humanitarian crisis” and a threat to Quebec identity if Justin Trudeau does not tighten the granting of visas and does not distribute migrants more equitably on Canadian territory.
“Embarrassing”
For Québec solidaire, the government is targeting the wrong target.
“It is not by preventing their children from attending our CPE that the situation will improve. I ask the CAQ to respect the judgment of the Court of Appeal and to quickly integrate these children into Quebec living environments, to begin their francization and to allow their parents to participate in resolving the labor crisis. “work quickly,” argued MP Guillaume Cliche-Rivard.
Spending tens of thousands of dollars in public funds to contest this cause instead of recognizing the right of women to return to work is “embarrassing”, judges the solidarity.