(Quebec) François Legault threatens the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, to hold a referendum on immigration if he does not obtain satisfaction of his demands by June 30.
What there is to know
- François Legault believes that the status quo on immigration is not possible. He asks Justin Trudeau to reduce temporary immigration or give him more powers.
- He expects results by June 30.
- It does not close the door to a sectoral referendum on immigration.
“Shall we hold a referendum on this? [sur l’obtention de nouveaux pouvoirs en immigration] possibly ? Are we having a broader referendum on other subjects? It will depend on the results of the discussions,” said Mr. Legault during a press briefing on Tuesday.
“Don’t forget that Mr. Trudeau promised me a new meeting by June 30 at the latest. I expect results. Mr. Trudeau has an obligation to achieve results,” he added.
François Legault began his press briefing by denouncing the Trudeau government’s pre-budget announcements, and its intrusions into Quebec’s areas of jurisdiction.
The worst thing about these announcements is that they target problems created by the federal government itself. The federal government has allowed the number of temporary immigrants to explode to 560,000.
Prime Minister François Legault
“This brings huge problems for Quebecers. We lack teachers, nurses, housing, and that poses a real challenge for the future of French, particularly in Montreal,” he added.
Mr. Legault named possible solutions. One of them is the pre-approval by Quebec of the selection of all temporary immigrants. “If that were the case, that would mean that we would control the number, the requirements in French,” he said.
The status quo is no longer possible, according to Legault
In March, faced with Justin Trudeau’s refusal to grant Quebec full immigration powers, Mr. Legault affirmed that he would soon table a “plan” which will present his government’s “options” to reduce temporary immigration in Province.
During a meeting in Montreal with Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Legault was refused all immigration powers.
The head of the federal government had, however, opened the door to the possibility that temporary workers who report to Ottawa would first be approved in Quebec and to the tightening of visas for foreigners who come to Quebec, as is the case for Mexicans. Mr. Trudeau would also be inclined to accept that the processing of asylum seekers’ files be accelerated.
The Prime Minister now points out that Justin Trudeau “admitted that there are too many immigrants.” He indicated that Quebec Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette is having discussions with the federal government, particularly on the issue of pre-approval and the French language requirement.
Essentially, he is asking Ottawa to reduce the number of immigrants at the source, or to cede powers to Quebec. “We can’t continue like this,” he said.
Invited to react on the other hill, the federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller, began by recalling that “a country which gives all its powers to someone else cannot is more of a country, whether a federated state or otherwise.”
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette
However, he continued by saying that he “really felt” in his recent exchanges with his Quebec counterpart, Christine Fréchette, “an eagerness to work, a desire to want to find solutions to our common challenges, and points of convergence”.
Even if there are points of divergence with the Legault government, the federal government is on the same wavelength with regard to “the common language of Quebec, and the desire to reduce [l’immigration] temporarily in a rational way,” he said.
Not a complete renegotiation of the agreement
The changes requested by the Legault government would not require a complete reopening of the Canada-Quebec agreement on immigration, according to the office of the Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette.
On the side of Québec solidaire, the former president of the Association of Immigration Law Lawyers and current solidaire MP Guillaume Cliche-Rivard affirms that Canada, through article 22 B of the agreement, has already consented to the fact that 100% of temporary foreign workers be pre-selected by Quebec.
Since then, Ottawa has created the international mobility program (PMI), where immigrants are not filtered by Quebec, but Mr. Cliche-Rivard believes that the situation could change without the agreement being reopened. In his opinion, Mr. Legault is asking for powers that he already has.
Better protection for senior tenants
“We are open to looking at that,” says Legault
After having ruled it out, François Legault opened the door to improving the protection of elderly tenants by expanding the “Françoise David law”.
“To return to your request to better protect seniors from the impacts of the housing crisis, we are open to looking at that,” said the Prime Minister on Tuesday in a message addressed to the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau Dubois, who he broadcast on social media.
Two weeks ago, the Coalition Avenir Québec called for a bill from Québec solidaire, which wanted to improve the Françoise David law, adopted in 2016, according to which a senior over 70 with a very low income who lives in his or her home for more than 10 years cannot be ousted. QS wants to expand the criteria to include people aged 65 and over who have lived in their home for at least five years.
“Let’s look at this together, in good faith, and see if we can find reasonable solutions,” he said, while worrying about the “perverse effects” that a tightening of the law could have.
With Hugo Pilon-Larose and Mélanie Marquis, The Press