Non-francophone immigration | A possible threat to “national cohesion”, according to Legault

(Drummondville) François Legault believes that non-francophone immigration, if not limited in number, is a threat to “national cohesion” in Quebec.

Hugo Pilon Larose
The Press

Sunday, during a first large gathering of activists since the start of the election campaign, in Drummondville, the leader of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) affirmed that it is important for him to “protect the cohesion of our nation” . To do this, the Caquists are asking Ottawa to give it full powers to select immigrants. Mr. Legault wishes to accept throughout a potential second term 80% of French-speaking immigrants upon their arrival.

” I tried [d’]explain why Quebecers pulled together during the pandemic. It’s because we are a people, a nation that is tightly woven. And then at the heart of this nation, there is French. And there, there is a certain urgency, ”explained the head of the attack in a press scrum.

“We have seen in the studies that were submitted recently that there is a decline in French. It is important to keep this national cohesion, to defend French, to stop the decline of French, ”he continued.

Asked about what threatens this national cohesion, Mr. Legault pointed the finger at his liberal or solidarity opponents, who respectively promise to increase to 70,000 or up to 80,000 the number of newcomers admitted to Quebec per year.

“It’s like math. If we want to stop the decline for a while, we have to better integrate newcomers to French,” said Mr. Legault, who promises to maintain the threshold at 50,000 over the next four years.

The reaction of his adversaries was quick. “Ukrainians fleeing bombs, Italians, Greeks, Mexicans, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Colombians, family reunification, is this a threat to our nation? It is your speech, François Legault, which threatens national cohesion, ”reacted liberal leader Dominique Anglade on social networks.

PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon accused François Legault of “deceiving” the population by saying he believed that Ottawa would give him all the powers in immigration. The leader of the CAQ “misleads” Quebecers about Bill 96, which will not reverse the decline of French in Quebec, supports the leader of the Parti Québécois.

“It’s been twice that François Legault has made assertions that are divisive,” said Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon. “When we talk about threat, fear, we will play in an emotional register to try to make people forget that the CAQ is complicit and largely responsible for the decline of French. […] Politicians should appeal to people’s intelligence and leave the sweeping claims about fear,” he said.

The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois sees in the exit of François Legault a “clear contrast” between the CAQ project and that of QS. While the left-wing party offers a cultural program so that immigrants “get the Quebec bite”, the CAQ leader “points the finger”.

Mr. Nadeau-Dubois defines himself as a “nationalist who opens his arms” and maintains that “immigration does not threaten the Quebec nation”. “Well regionalized, francized immigration, where we stimulate cultural exchange between people who are already in Quebec and people who arrive in Quebec, that enriches us as a nation. I refuse that immigration is a difficult, sensitive, uncomfortable subject,” he said. He believes it is “correct” to debate immigration reception targets, but not to associate immigration with a threat.

Legault criticizes Nadeau-Dubois

In a speech delivered to a few hundred caquiste activists gathered at the Le Dauphin hotel, François Legault launched arrows at a single opponent: Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of Québec solidaire. According to the head of the CAQ, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois is the man “who taxes faster than his shadow”.

“One of the great concerns, if not the great concern [c’est la lutte] against inflation. And there, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois is proposing an old idea from an old politician, that is to say, to increase taxes. I think what he proposes is at the worst time […] and I tell myself that Quebecers must all be aware of that,” he said.

In its financial framework, unveiled on Saturday, the CAQ plans to widen Quebec’s deficit beyond what was forecast in the pre-election report on the state of the province’s public finances. In total, CAQ commitments total 29.6 billion over four years. Of this amount, all the measures of the party’s “anti-inflation shield” total 21 billion, which includes the 1% tax cut for the first two tax brackets from 2023.

With Tommy Chouinard, Fanny Lévesque and Charles Lecavalier, The Press