(Ottawa) Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Tuesday he was “quite tired of the fact that people are always blaming immigrants for absolutely everything,” after Quebec Premier François Legault had attributed “100% of the housing problem” to the increase in the number of people arriving on a temporary basis.
Questioned upon leaving a meeting of the Council of Ministers about Mr. Legault’s comments, Mr. Miller took care to direct his apparent exasperation towards “the people.”
“The increase in mortgages, in mortgage prices, has nothing to do with immigrants,” he said.
At the end of a meeting held Monday in the Quebec capital with his federal counterpart, Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Quebec said he was “disappointed” despite “certain progress.” “Mr. Legault, I think he came out grumbling,” Mr. Miller said on Tuesday.
Ottawa has committed to paying 750 million to Quebec to compensate for the reception of asylum seekers on its territory. Mr. Legault stressed that he had requested a sum of one billion dollars.
Among other measures, the federal government also promised to process the files of asylum seekers more quickly and to encourage their “voluntary movement” to other Canadian provinces. Ottawa also maintained that it wanted to return “inadmissible foreigners” more quickly.
The Premier of Quebec continues to insist that there has been an “explosion” in the number of temporary immigrants established in the province and that this is putting a lot of pressure on public services and housing.
“100% of the housing problem comes from the increase in the number of temporary immigrants,” he said.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
François Legault and Justin Trudeau
Mr. Legault reported that his government is demanding a 50% reduction in the number of asylum seekers and temporary foreign workers from the international mobility program (IMP), two categories which are within Ottawa’s jurisdiction.
Questioned about this percentage put forward by Quebec, Mr. Miller carefully avoided responding with another proportion.
“What I certainly did not want to do was to mislead Quebecers and Canadians by setting targets that were not based in reality,” he said Tuesday. I have no reason to question what Mr. Legault wanted. I think he wanted concrete numbers. »
According to Mr. Miller, the few weeks of existence of the working committee looking into the distribution of asylum seekers in the country have given “positive momentum” and he has “a certain confidence in being able to put a plan before the public at the beginning of September.”
With information from Thomas Laberge