The leader of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), François Legault, came under fire from his opponents on Monday because of remarks made the day before concerning an increase in immigration targets which, according to him, could harm the “cohesion national”.
“It’s petty politics, lamented in the morning the leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) Dominique Anglade, passing through Laval. It’s petty, it’s petty, it’s shabby. Mr. Legault seeks to divide the population in a “deliberate manner”, she added, in the afternoon.
“Maintaining the fear of the other is what [François Legault] done by telling the person […] she is not exactly the same as you, so maybe you should be wary of her, ”said Ms. Anglade, without however specifying who the head caquiste is addressing, according to her.
If the Liberals are elected, they want to welcome 70,000 newcomers in the first year, then adjust this number according to the needs of the regions in the following years.
The immigration threshold proposed by the PLQ, like that of Québec solidaire (QS) of between 60,000 and 80,000 immigrants per year, risks harming “national cohesion”, said François Legault, passing through Drummondville. sunday. The cohesion of the nation depends on the protection of French, he explained.
“It is certain that the parties which want to go to 70,000 or 80,000 per year of newcomers, it is like mathematics, said the chief caquist, in scrum of the press. If we want to stop the decline for a while, we have to better integrate newcomers to French. »
For its part, the CAQ wishes to maintain the immigration targets at 50,000 people per year during the next mandate.
On Monday, the chief caquiste reacted to the attacks of his liberal opponent by attacking him in turn. “Ms. Anglade is negative day after day,” said François Legault. It looks like she doesn’t realize that Quebeckers don’t like it. »
Legault ‘misplaced’ to speak, says Duhaime
The leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ), Éric Duhaime, for his part argued that Mr. Legault was “very poorly placed to speak about threats to social cohesion”.
On the sidelines of a press briefing in Quebec, Mr. Duhaime recalled the apologies made by the chief caquiste last week. François Legault had affirmed not to have “wanted to associate immigration with violence”.
In Chibougamau, Québec solidaire (QS) spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois argued that Mr. Legault is “always negative” about immigration. He “always has a not fun tone, he always talks to us about a threat, it always seems to be a problem for him, immigration”, he lamented.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois stressed that Quebecers are “a welcoming people”. They want to hear about immigration in a “positive way”, he said.
“Exaggerated and outrageous” statements, according to the PQ leader
Faced with the overwhelming reactions, the PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, wanted to rise above the fray.
“I would like to call for calm,” he said. Quebeckers must not have a debate that is fundamental on the future of French and on immigration confiscated by statements that are exaggerated and outrageous. »
He invited his adversaries to set aside shock formulas in favor of substantive issues, particularly on immigration.
“It’s easy to make headlines by calling your opponents pathetic,” said Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon. Or getting all the media attention talking about threat, fear, or associating violence with immigration, that’s too easy. »
The leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ) has assured that he intends to focus on the substantive issues.
“We will at all times maintain a tone that is constructive and promotes debate on public policy and not a contest of superlatives and who gets the most attention,” he promised.
We must stop the division, says Minister Rodriguez
On Monday, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez called on François Legault to stop dividing Quebec between “us and them”. “As soon as a person comes to Quebec, devotes his life to Quebec, raises his children in Quebec, this person is Quebecois,” he said.
Mr. Rodriguez then spoke about his personal history. Coming from Argentina with his parents, he wondered if his family would have been seen as a threat by François Legault when he arrived in Quebec, since they did not speak French. His parents learned the language from Molière and then became professors at the University of Sherbrooke, he said.
“This is the first time that I have been considered a threat,” said the Montreal MP.
With Marco Bélair-Cirino and The Canadian Press