(Saint-Hyacinthe) After ridiculing the idea, Prime Minister François Legault says he is “open” to banning access to social networks for those under 16, while emphasizing that there are “pros” and “cons”. One thing is certain for him: TikTok and other Instagrams, “it’s a bit as if they were pushers “virtual services” that make young people dependent and harm their mental health.
Saturday, upon his arrival at the general council of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in Saint-Hyacinthe, François Legault also returned to the charge on the theme of immigration in order to put pressure on Ottawa to “significantly reduce” the number of temporary immigrants, which currently stands at 560,000 in Quebec. He calls on Quebecers to realize that there is an “emergency” and that we must “put real pressure on the federal government to act quickly.” He wants the issue to be at the heart of the next federal election.
Friday, The Press published a SOM survey showing that seven out of ten Quebecers support the establishment of a digital majority at 16 to open an account on TikTok, Instagram and other social networks. The Prime Minister’s entourage analyzed the results of this poll.
At the beginning of the month, François Legault rejected the idea of a numerical majority suggested by PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. “Okay, did I just hear the leader of the PQ tell us: “We should ban social media for children under 14?” Is that what he just said? Did I hear that correctly? Is that his suggestion? », he replied.
He is now opening the door to the digital majority at 16 to open an account on social networks as proposed by the youth wing of his party. This proposal will be debated at the CAQ general council.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
François Legault “totally” believes that social networks are addictive products in the same way as alcohol and cannabis.
“I am open,” said François Legault. “We are going to have debates. There are pros, there are cons,” he said.
Asked about the feasibility of this measure, he replied that “if we take this decision, we will look at how we can actually do this legally”.
He “totally” believes that social networks are addictive products in the same way as alcohol and cannabis, as the president of the youth wing of his party thinks.
The way social media works is to get readers addicted. So it’s a bit as if they were pushers virtual, such as drugs and other substances. It’s worrying, it scares me. This creates significant mental health problems for young people. Yes, I am open to taking important actions for social networks.
François Legault
On June 30, François Legault will meet his counterpart Justin Trudeau on the subject of temporary immigration, the scale of which he believes has a significant impact on public services and French. Discussions are not progressing between the two governments at the moment. “I always hope that in the meeting we will perhaps have some good news, but for the moment, what we are being told is that there are committees being set up, but that don’t move,” said Mr. Legault.
He calls on Quebecers to take this issue into account in view of the next federal elections, while calling into question the idea he had mentioned of holding a sectoral referendum on the transfer of full immigration powers to Quebec. “Even having a sectoral referendum, we already know that there are 65% of Quebecers who would agree to transfer powers. But when we look at the last federal election, that was not the main issue. What I hope over the coming weeks and months is for this to become a main issue. »
According to him, “Quebecers must understand that if we want to improve our education and health services, if we want to make housing available, we must significantly reduce the number of 560,000 temporary immigrants.”