(Ottawa) Federal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is working with the Quebec government to bring more French-speaking immigrants to the province.
Posted at 11:58 a.m.
“We are still working with Quebec to improve [et] accelerate the arrival of immigrants who speak French in Canada and Quebec, ”he said Thursday in a press scrum before going to a meeting of the council of ministers.
He maintained that the work with Quebec is being done “very well”.
Mr. Trudeau was questioned as to why he would not grant the additional powers in immigration demanded by the government of François Legault, in the wake of a survey obtained by the Montreal Journalwhich reports results showing that non-Francophone immigration is identified by a majority of respondents as the main threat to French.
It is reported that a vast majority of respondents would agree that the Quebec government should make proficiency in French a requirement for having a Quebec selection certificate, even if Quebeckers seem divided on the question of the powers claimed by Ms. Legault.
Furthermore, the Montreal Journal indicates that two out of three respondents were against the idea of raising immigration thresholds above 50,000 people.
On this point, the federal Prime Minister said that his government “also recognizes that we are in a labor shortage and it takes more people”.