A new confrontation is emerging between Ottawa and Quebec over immigration control.
Prime Minister Francois Lego is adamant that all immigration powers traditionally shared between the two levels of government be repatriated to Quebec.
He says it is a matter of the nation’s survival in Quebec, without hesitation raising the specter of Louisiana and the gradual disappearance of French in Quebec if the status quo is maintained.
He said Sunday that he intends to demand a “strong mandate” from the population during the October 3rd vote to ensure a real “balance of power” with Ottawa when it comes to talks on the possible repatriation of all immigration powers to Quebec. , with the exception of refugees.
Lego chose to close its Coalition Avenir Quebec party convention on Sunday with a strong nationalist speech to more than a thousand activists gathered in Drummondville over the weekend over Quebec’s pride.
Full control of immigration by the National Assembly is linked to the “very existence” of the Quebec people, he said, recalling that the federal government has the power to decide on about half of newcomers, including those who come through the family reunification channel. It is estimated that half of them do not speak French, which poses a threat to Quebec, he said.
The request to repatriate powers in this area is not a new request from Quebec that has always hit the wall in the past.
However, Lego has made it a priority and says he is confident he will succeed where others have failed before him. Quebecers can expect to hear a lot about immigration in the next election campaign, with pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and leaders of opposition parties in the House of Commons to get involved.
“I am confident that we will receive these immigration powers,” he told a news conference afterwards, although he feared what would happen if he received another flat refusal from the federal government.
He rejected the idea of a referendum on the issue.
Quebec receives about 50,000 immigrants a year.
“It is important for Quebecers to understand that this is a matter of survival for French Quebec,” said Lego, who may have to use his teaching skills in the coming months to persuade the public to support his views on the issue.
If nothing changes, he said, “it may be a matter of time before we become Louisiana.”
Regarding the October 3 general election, the CAQ leader said the population should be wary of “ideologies” on both the left and the right, alluding, without naming them, to Québec Solidaire (QS) and the Conservative Party of Quebec. PCQ).
In his speech, the Prime Minister gave a very flattering account of the achievements of his government, concluding that after four years of CAQ rule, Quebec is more prosperous and proud than ever.
“We have changed Quebec,” he said, and obviously for the better.
As for the economic front, he said voters must trust experienced people to deal with the “volatile” climate that is looming on the horizon in the next term.
He promised to help people fight inflation and promised to make a specific statement about it, in cash, during the next election campaign.
But he did not say a word about the most serious economic problem of the day and the most urgent – the shortage of labor.
He also did not list the many problems with access to health care, with ever-increasing waiting lists, both in the emergency department and when receiving surgery or on the family doctor’s patient list.
But he said he has a “trump card” to solve the network’s problems for a second term, in the person of Christian Dubet, his health minister, who recently announced his intention to run again. Dubé received a standing ovation from members of the CAQ party.
Meanwhile, four months before the election, the process of recruiting CAQ candidates for the next election is going well. There are already nearly a hundred riders who know the name of their CAQ candidate, half of whom are currently women. There are still 29 candidates out of 125 who need to be identified.
– This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 29, 2022.
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