During his meeting with Justin Trudeau on Friday, Prime Minister François Legault will once again demand full powers over immigration. In the event of refusal, “we will evaluate our options,” he said.
The CAQ Prime Minister opened his game, during the question period, 24 hours before a summit meeting with his Canadian counterpart.
“It was I who requested the meeting with Mr. Trudeau, then it will be part of my requests, to repatriate all powers in matters of immigration,” confided François Legault in response to a question from PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
This will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two men since December 2022.
As in the past, the Prime Minister will also demand a reduction in “the number of temporary immigrants and then asylum seekers”.
If Ottawa persists in refusing to delegate all immigration powers to Quebec, “we will evaluate our options,” continued Mr. Legault. “There are options that present themselves, we are already evaluating them,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s entourage did not wish to specify what these “options” are on the table.
“The current situation cannot continue any longer,” François Legault simply commented at the exit of the Salon Bleu, speaking of an “important day” tomorrow.
“Louisianization” of Quebec
During the last election campaign, the CAQ Prime Minister threatened to hold a sectoral referendum in order to force Ottawa to entrust all immigration powers to Quebec. But last month, he finally abandoned this avenue, judging that it was no longer “necessary”.
François Legault had also mentioned, during the electoral campaign, the holding of general meetings or a vast commission to study the subject.
According to the CAQ leader, the survival of the French-speaking nation was at stake in order to avoid a “Louisianization” of Quebec.
Claims
Quebec has been increasing its demands on immigration since the start of the year.
In a letter sent to his federal counterpart in January, François Legault called in particular for better distribution across Canada of the approximately 160,000 asylum seekers currently on Quebec territory.
The Legault government is also asking Ottawa to reimburse it $1 billion for costs related to welcoming these migrants seeking refugee status.