François Legault persists and signs: the protection of French in Quebec goes through better control of its immigration, whether it likes it or not, reaffirmed the Prime Minister, before the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec (FCCQ).
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“I understand that it does not please everyone, but it is a reality: when we look at the percentage of Quebecers who speak French, (…) with each census, it drops”, underlined the leader caquiste, during a conference dinner with representatives of the FCCQ, who met Monday at the Club Mont-Royal in Montreal.
During his speech, the Prime Minister insisted this time on the proportion of Quebecers who use French as their main language of work, which has gone from 59 to 56% in recent years, “especially in Montreal”, said he observed.
“That means that we will soon be down from 50% of people who work mainly in French in Montreal,” he worried.
‘It’s not the immigrants’ fault’
Questioned by the CEO of the FCCQ, Charles Millard, who fears that the next election campaign “mainly focuses” on immigration and that this will harm the ” branding of Quebec”, François Legault recognized that it is a “super delicate subject”.
“We have to stop saying: it’s the immigrants’ fault. (…) Then the majority of immigrants who arrive here integrate very well, ”wanted to qualify the chief caquist.
“It’s not the immigrants’ fault, it’s the Quebecers’ fault. It is ultimately the fault of the demographic situation,” continued Mr. Legault.
In particular, he observed that to maintain the population and the proportion of Francophones at the current level, “it would take 2.1 children per couple”, while the birth rate is 1.5. “There is no question of touching that,” immediately assured Mr. Legault.
Integration of French
The solution, he reiterated, lies in maintaining immigration thresholds at 50,000 newcomers per year, “essentially because of integration into French” and in more powers in this area.
Even his good friend and counterpart Doug Ford, with whom he speaks “every week”, and who won “a great victory” with 83 elected Conservatives in Ontario, “would like to have control over his immigration”, said Mr. Legault.
“We can say to ourselves: ‘it doesn’t matter, then eventually French (in Quebec) will be in the minority, then good… What do you want, it’s North America, it’s is our destiny “… Me, I do not accept that, indicated Mr. Legault. Then at the CAQ we are nationalist within Canada. »