Back from Paris, Legault maintains his position on asylum seekers

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press François Legault's proposal to force the relocation of 80,000 asylum seekers to other provinces has caused a stir, forcing him to defend it once again in the House and before the parliamentary press.

At the end of a mission to France during which he presented an “outlandish” position on immigration that “shamed Quebec” in the eyes of the opposition, Premier François Legault maintained Tuesday that forcing the transfer of asylum seekers could be done “humanely.”

After a week spent in Paris and the surrounding area for the Francophonie Summit, Premier Legault was eagerly awaited by the opposition parties on Tuesday at the National Assembly. His proposal to force the relocation of 80,000 asylum seekers to other provinces has caused a stir, forcing him to defend it once again in the chamber and before the parliamentary press.

“A message is starting to get through. We’ve had the debate in Europe for a long time, but in Quebec, we’re starting to have it,” he said before venturing to the Salon Rouge, where he once again had to answer for his controversial proposal, first made a week earlier.

In the morning, the interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay, had fired broadsides at the Prime Minister, who, according to him, “shamed us in Paris.” “These vulnerable people are not merchandise. François Legault lacked humanity, and also lacked responsibility,” he lamented during a press briefing held at the Parliament Building.

According to Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the operation proposed by Premier Legault is inapplicable, especially in the context where the federal government has already said no to him on several occasions.

“He proposed an improvised and outlandish solution to reduce the number of asylum seekers in Quebec, a solution that he knew very well was impossible,” argued the PQ elected official before asking him in the House to stop “telling himself stories.”

“Humanly”

In response to questions from Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon on Tuesday, Mr. Legault repeated that he believed he could proceed in a dignified manner with the transfer of half of the asylum seekers currently housed in Quebec. However, he did not want to specify how. “It is possible to do it humanely,” he maintained.

A statement that the co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, does not believe. At a press briefing in the morning, the Montreal elected official urged the premier to stop venturing down this road. “Quebec is not that,” he said.

“These are scenes we see in the United States. We don’t want to see that in Quebec, it doesn’t resemble us […]. “That's not our history, that's not our values,” he continued.

For months, François Legault has been calling for Ottawa to reduce the number of people seeking asylum in Quebec by half by sending them to other provinces. However, he had never mentioned an “obligation” before last week.

In the eyes of the federal government, forcing anyone to change their place of accommodation is a direct violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. When questioned on this subject last Thursday, François Legault said he did not have to judge the legality of his proposal.