(Quebec) The opposition accuses the Legault government of having tarnished Quebec’s reputation abroad by “scraping” the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ) in 2020. Quebec solidaire goes so far as to demand an official apology from the government.
The opposition holds the government of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) responsible for having tarnished the reputation of Quebec in the eyes of French-speaking immigrants, whom it now wishes to attract with its new immigration reform.
The Press reported on Tuesday that the reform of the PEQ imposed in 2020 by the Minister of Immigration at the time, Simon Jolin-Barrette, had tarnished the reputation of Quebec to the point where the message circulating on social networks is outright to avoid Province.
Premier François Legault does not believe that his government has harmed the image of Quebec. He considers that “Quebec has always had the reputation of being welcoming” and adds that his government “will ensure that Quebec maintains this image of being welcoming”. The reform aimed to put an end to the “open bar” set up by the Liberals, who granted “passes-rights” to foreign students, according to him.
L’opposition voit les choses autrement. « Ils ont scrappé [le PEQ] and people internationally talk to each other. Quebec has bad press. The CAQ will have succeeded in tarnishing the image of Quebec internationally,” launched the interim Liberal leader, Marc Tanguay. Québec solidaire spoke of a program “butchered” by the Legault government.
“They shattered thousands of dreams, thousands of lives, and there, a few years later, they see the light, they backpedal. It’s not a game, people’s lives. It didn’t tempt you to think about it at first? “, railed the parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.
“The management of the PEQ [est] reputational damage for Quebec,” said PQ MP Pascal Bérubé.
It is clear that this program caused enormous harm internationally, in the college network as well.
Pascal Bérubé, Member of the Parti Québécois
Mr. Bérubé also said that the reform proposed last week by the Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, “cleansed the slate” of what had been done by Mr. Jolin-Barrette.
This time, the Legault government is withdrawing from the component intended for foreign students a requirement that it had imposed itself, namely that of obtaining work experience in Quebec at the end of schooling before applying. The previous reform had the effect of reducing the number of applicants.
Pascal Bérubé affirms that it is “desirable” that the reputation of Quebec recovers with this new reform of the PEQ.
For the Liberal Party of Quebec, the trend will not be reversed until the Legault government returns to the 2018 version of the PEQ.
“The reason is very simple, the Quebec Experience Program was the only program that kept young Francophones in Quebec, either the student component or the worker component,” explained Liberal MP Monsef Derraji, who indicated that the reform Fréchette is “incomplete” as long as it does not relax the conditions of the PEQ for temporary workers.
flip-flop
According to Québec solidaire, the “link of trust is broken” between the Legault government and immigrants. “There has never been an apology, ever, for the 18,000 files thrown away and the dreams destroyed. There have never been any excuses for the abandoned and the promises of acquired rights not respected in the reform of the PEQ, ”lamented the solidarity deputy Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, a former lawyer specializing in immigration.
“We had promised a full grandfather clause [dans la réforme du PEQ]. It hasn’t been done. There are only a few foreign students who, in the end, were able to complete their diploma on time and then obtain the PEQ as we know it,” he continued.
Personally, I will not tell the Prime Minister or the minister what to do, but I think the Government of Quebec should apologize.
Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, MP for Québec solidaire
The opposition fired red balls on Tuesday on the immigration reform presented last week by Christine Fréchette, which provides for the scenario of raising the thresholds for permanent immigration to more than 60,000 by 2026. It’s a volte -face of the government of the Coalition avenir Québec when François Legault promised during the election campaign to maintain the thresholds at 50,000.
” It’s not nothing [que] the government allows itself to make another 180 degrees, like for the third link and like so many other subjects. And not only does it go against what has been announced, it goes against the government’s commitments, so it raises the question of false representations, ”said the leader of the Parti québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
The PQ and Québec solidaire criticize the government for having proposed nothing to promote the regionalization of immigration or on the issue of temporary immigration, which has increased in recent years.