Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “It will be one of my requests to repatriate all powers over immigration. What I am also going to ask him is that we reduce the number of temporary immigrants and then asylum seekers,” François Legault said on Thursday.
On the eve of a summit meeting with his counterpart Justin Trudeau, François Legault is not beating around the bush: he wants to repatriate all immigration powers. Otherwise, he will “evaluate his options”.
Minister Legault opened his game on Thursday when questioned during question period by the leader of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. “Can the Prime Minister confirm to us that he will make the formal request to Justin Trudeau during his meeting tomorrow ?” asked the PQ representative. “The short answer is yes,” replied Mr. Legault.
“That will be one of my demands, to repatriate all powers over immigration. What I am also going to ask him is that we reduce the number of temporary immigrants and then of asylum seekers,” he added.
The meeting between prime ministers is their first face-to-face meeting since December 2022. It occurs in a context where the Legault government has been demanding for weeks a better distribution of asylum seekers from one end of Canada to the other , as well as the reimbursement of the sums used to welcome them to Quebec since 2021. “The situation cannot continue any longer,” argued Mr. Legault on Thursday.
Relaunched by Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon in the House, the head of the CAQ government maintained that a refusal along the entire line from Ottawa would not be acceptable. “[In the event of a no], we will evaluate our options. There are options that present themselves,” the prime minister said, without elaborating further on his thoughts. A press briefing by Mr. Legault is planned for Friday, following the meeting with his federal counterpart.
This is not the first time that François Legault has mentioned a repatriation of immigration powers to Quebec. He proposed it two years ago, in a parliamentary committee at the National Assembly – “what is important is to recover all powers […], including family reunification,” he said. He repeated it in the middle of the 2022 electoral campaign, while suggesting the holding of a sectoral referendum on this subject. The idea was later abandoned.
Also read
- Quebec identity is “threatened” by the influx of asylum seekers, says Quebec
- Quebec works privately on its immigration reception capacity
- A “totally distorted” temporary worker program, thunders a union leader
In a press scrum on Thursday at the end of question period, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon welcomed the Prime Minister's desire to tackle head-on the question of immigration powers. “For us, it’s a step forward, because I don’t know how many times I’ve asked for it since I became leader,” said the Montreal elected official. “It’s a surprise to me. »
“PSPP” hopes for “gains” Friday. “It is certain that we have a meeting between two leaders whose polls are not doing well. So, they have a common interest in releasing something,” he said. In the morning, the Liberal Party of Quebec and Québec solidaire also supported the financial requests of the Legault government in terms of welcoming asylum seekers.