In her column published on January 19, Aurélie Lanctôt demonstrates intellectual dishonesty by writing, about my colleague leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, that “the heart of her statement is that immigrants take “our” housing.”
PSPP has never approached, directly or indirectly, implicitly or explicitly, a rhetoric implying that “immigrants are taking our homes”. On the contrary: he regularly takes care to clarify that the issue is not personified against immigrants, that none of them is to blame, that it is a question of public policy. Immigrants are not responsible for the housing crisis, bad public policies contributed to it.
The social issues that Mme Lanctôt presents as “secondary” for the Parti Québécois, such as the offer of social housing, speculation and the protection of tenants, have been the subject of several outings on our part. During our caucus, we reiterated that our major project on housing would focus as much on the supply of housing as on the demand and access to property, so that the Quebec experience of immigrants is a success for all. These are again easily verifiable facts and statements that Mme Lanctôt chooses to remain silent.
The vision of the Parti Québécois seeks to guarantee for each immigrant who chooses Quebec a job corresponding to their skills, access to services, integration in French and, of course, a roof over their heads.
However, we are not succeeding because the number of people who arrive each year exceeds our reception and integration capacity. Quebec has always been a generous welcoming society, and the PQ wants it to remain so. But public policies based on ideology and a lack of planning have led to a situation unprecedented on a recent international scale. All categories combined, more than two million people have arrived in Canada over the last two years, including nearly 370,000 in Quebec.
Result ? While there are so many success stories to tell, there are also so many immigrants lining up at food banks who don’t have a place to live. Our public services, already weakened, are unable to meet demand, and the community organizations that have taken over to accommodate them are running out of steam.
Is this really what we want for immigrants? For Quebec? Contrary to popular beliefs, the most serious analyzes demonstrate that such levels of immigration do not contribute to reducing the labor shortage or to “rejuvenating” the population. In light of the many economists who corroborate the findings of the Parti Québécois, how can we then review the model? How can we ensure access to the benefits of social democracy and equal opportunities for all Quebecers, those who arrive in the same way as others?
It is to these questions that Mme Lanctôt should respond by expressing his opinion — which we will respect even if it differs from ours — based on the facts, rather than distorting the words of those who have an opinion distinct from his.