VICTORIAVILLE | François Legault pleads that it is to protect the values of Quebecers, who “do not like extremists” nor “violence”, that it is important to maintain the immigration thresholds at the current level, “a dangerous amalgam” has quickly denounced the liberal leader Dominique Anglade.
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For a second day in a row, the leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec maintained that the levels of integration that Justin Trudeau wishes to impose in the various Canadian provinces pose a “great integration challenge”.
“And obviously it’s much bigger in Quebec because of the language,” said Mr. Legault, who is keen to keep the maximum number of newcomers to 50,000 per year during a mandate project, if he form the next government.
“A way of living”
On the sidelines of a visit to a school in Victoriaville, in the county of Arthabaska, François Legault added another argument on Wednesday: that of Quebec values, recalling a formula he had hammered out during the debate on secularism, “ because that’s how we live in Quebec.
“We have talked a lot about secularism in recent years. This is one of the values too. The respect. […] There is a way of life with us and we want to keep it, ”he insisted.
“Quebecers are peaceful, explained Mr. Legault. They don’t like chicanery, they don’t like extremists, they don’t like violence. So we have to make sure that we keep it as it is now.
All in all, this issue “is not unique to Quebec,” considers the head of the CAQ.
“I look at what happened in Germany, what happened in many other countries. It always remains a challenge, the integration of newcomers.
A dangerous amalgam, according to Anglade
According to the head of the PLQ, the outgoing prime minister “is not sending a very good message” by making a link “between violence and immigration” in Quebec. François Legault makes a dangerous amalgam, she says.
“I totally agree that Quebecers are pacifists, that they don’t like squabbling. But to make a connection between that and immigration… I don’t see any connection to be made between the two. No link […] It is an extremely dangerous mixture. A dangerous mix, first, and the last thing we need in Quebec are people who divide us. François Legault continues to want to divide Quebecers.