Whatever François Legault thinks – or hopes – Justin Trudeau does not feel bound by the size of the caucus which the leader of the Coalition avenir Québec risks inheriting after the elections next October. Brandishing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the federal prime minister insisted that a parliamentary majority, however large, was not equivalent to giving a government permission to impose its ideas.
“The Charter exists to counter, to ensure that despite popular or populist majorities, we manage to guarantee the protection of all,” argued Prime Minister Trudeau, in an exclusive interview with The duty on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid on Thursday. “That’s why a [telle] charter, within a democracy where the majority leads, it has its value. »
By evoking “popular or populist” majorities, does Mr. Trudeau consider that François Legault is a leader of the second temper? “We’ll see,” he replies. “It certainly plays on issues that we have already seen, very often, in Quebec elections: national identity, Quebec, francophone identity. » Topics that have been addressed in the past.
“We don’t criticize anyone for that,” insists the federal prime minister. “But it’s something we’ve already seen. We see that this does not always lead to a most productive or positive society. »
At the CAQ convention at the end of May, four months before the Quebec election, François Legault announced that he was going to “work hard” during the election campaign in order to win “a strong mandate to negotiate with Ottawa”. Among other things, the Prime Minister of the Caquiste has in his sights more powers for Quebec in terms of immigration, which he will again demand from the federal government.
The strategy had been the same in 2018, but Justin Trudeau and his government then ignored Mr. Legault’s requests. However, the CAQ would now attract 42% of voting intentions in Quebec and would collect 95 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly, according to data from the poll aggregation site Qc125.
Notwithstanding, Justin Trudeau – who insists on the fact that he has concluded numerous agreements with Mr. Legault despite their disagreements – does not necessarily intend to respond favorably this time either to the claims of his Quebec counterpart. “What exactly does he want with more control over immigration? […] More Francophone immigration? This is what we will deliver, ”replies Mr. Trudeau to the potential aims of Mr. Legault.
“I have not yet seen any justification, other than politics, to say that in Quebec we want to have more control because of this nationalist side – not to use a stronger word from Mr. Legault’s past” , he comments without pronouncing this word: “sovereignty”.
Trudeau apologizes for passport fiasco
“Quebec already has more control over immigration than any other province. It’s already big, ”he decides, seeming to cut short the debate even before it is launched on the Quebec electoral field this summer.
Against “Law 96” to protect French-speaking minorities
On the other hand, federal Liberals took part in the debate surrounding the adoption of the Act respecting the official and common language of Quebec, French (former Bill 96) by demonstrating in the streets of Montreal with their opponents.
The procrastination of the Liberal Party of Quebec on the subject has left a void in terms of the political representation of these citizens, a lack that some federal Liberals felt the need to fill.
Justin Trudeau denies that this context influenced his government to announce, ten days later, that he interwould come to the Supreme Court in the matter of the Act respecting the secularism of the State (the former Bill 21) and that he also left the door open to do so on “Bill 96”.
“It’s independent of that. I’ve been clear from the start that I don’t agree with ‘Law 21’,” he retorts. “I’m here to defend official language minorities,” both in the rest of Canada and in Quebec, he adds. “You can’t separate the two. By making the English-speaking minorities in Quebec vulnerable, we also make the French-speaking minorities outside Quebec vulnerable. »
As for his elected officials who have demonstrated loud and clear their opposition to “Bill 96”, Justin Trudeau argues that he leads a party bringing together a diversity of points of view. “But to see deputies stand up to defend fundamental freedoms, that’s not what shocks me. On the contrary. »
Fears for the safety… of his family
The last few months in federal politics have been marked by an escalation in the level of threats against the Prime Minister, but also against parliamentarians from all parties. There have also been a few skirmishes with disgruntled citizens.
Concerned, Justin Trudeau admits that he does not know the perfect solution to this problem: we must find the right balance that will protect elected officials (so as not to discourage potential recruits from entering politics, among other things) while preserving access to politicians who benefit Canadian citizens, he opines.
What worries him above all in this social climate is the pressure his children are under. His son Xavier, 14, was worried that an actor from the series Riverdalewhom he watched, had just killed his own mother and then wanted to kill Prime Minister Trudeau, his own father.
And the fear that his work at the head of the Canadian government could threaten the safety of his family. “The idea that what I’m doing might put them in danger turns me on my head. And it is also difficult for[mon épouse] Sophie. We have a lot of conversations about it. Since truckers and “freedom protesters” paralyzed downtown Ottawa this winter, Justin Trudeau’s office no longer specifies in his daily itinerary where he is in the “National Capital Region.” .
The Prime Minister says he reluctantly invoked the Emergencies Act to end the occupation of Ottawa. “It really didn’t appeal to me. For personal reasons, since he “lived the consequences” of his father’s decision to invoke the War Measures Act (the ancestor of the Emergencies Act) in 1970. Then because it was a “big measure”, “a measure of last resort”.
The Ukrainian case
Justin Trudeau has just spent ten days on the road to the Commonwealth, G7 and NATO leaders’ summits, where he announced a series of measures financial and military assistance for Ukraine and has hammered day after day that these alliances must stand up to Russia and denounce its invasion.
Three weeks earlier, it was revealed that a senior Foreign Ministry diplomat had just attended a reception at the Russian Embassy. The Prime Minister refrains from pronouncing swear words on the subject before admitting to having been “surprised and frustrated”. He believed his government had been clear in its condemnation and willingness to ostracize Russia. And so that “to engage in a social way with Russia at the Russian ambassador, it should not have happened”.
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund–The duty.