Prime Minister François Legault gave a glimpse of what his provincial election campaign will look like on Sunday, with a speech outlining his plan to demand that Ottawa hand over more immigration powers to Quebec.
The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Legault’s party, held its caucus this weekend in Drummondville, Que., a city in the eastern boroughs southeast of Montreal.
Legault told the crowd of about 1,000 that he wants to ask Quebecers for a “strong mandate” in the Oct. 3 election to be a powerful negotiator with Ottawa on immigration issues.
Legault’s speech, which he called “Pride,” was strongly nationalist, calling for the preservation of the French language, Quebec culture, and listed the passage of Bills 21 (on secularism) and 96 (revision of the Charter of the French language). ) as victories for his rule.
“We changed Quebec,” he said.
Bill 21 prohibits public officials in positions of authority, including teachers, lawyers, police officers and judges, from wearing religious attire or symbols. In practice, the law has mostly affected Muslim female teachers who wear headscarves.
Although Quebec administers economic immigration to the province, a power that other provinces and territories in Canada do not have, the federal government is responsible for family reunification and the admission of refugees, who represent about half of the new arrivals to the province. province each year.
Legault said he wants Quebec to be able to choose much of that remaining half, except for refugees, so he can prioritize French-speaking foreigners. He said family reunification cases account for about 11,000 of the 50,000 people who migrate to the province each year.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has so far rejected Legault’s calls for Quebec to have full control over immigration to the province, but has pointed to Bill C-13 introduced by the federal Liberals, which in part is aimed at increasing immigration from francophone countries.
Legault said it was a question of the survival of the French language in the province, pointing to the state of Louisiana as an example of a place that used to be predominantly French-speaking but is no longer, surrounded by a nearly monolingual English-speaking population. country.
“It’s important for Quebecers to understand that it’s a matter of survival,” for a French-speaking Quebec, he said.
But when asked by a reporter if there were any government studies on the impacts of family reunification and the use of French, Legault’s response was unclear.
“Is it too much to ask them to learn before they move to Quebec? Is it too much? I don’t think so,” he said.
A much-criticized provision of Bill 96, which was signed into law last week, requires refugees to learn French within six months of arriving in Quebec, after which they will no longer be able to access most public services in another language.
Critics say six months is not enough to master French and that the clause will make it harder for immigrants to access basic services.
On Tuesday, after the law was passed, Legault warned reporters that he wanted to pressure the federal government to hand over its immigration crowbars.
“That’s where the focus should be,” on protecting French, he said.
Critics say policies go beyond language
But some critics see Legault’s focus on legislation aimed at minorities as a way to appeal to his voter base, made up largely of older portions of Quebec’s population and those who live outside major cities.
Some groups that help immigrants, migrant workers and refugees in Montreal believe that Quebec is creating a two-tier immigration system, making it difficult for non-French speakers to access permanent residency while relying on more than one vulnerable temporary foreign workforce to fill serious positions. labor shortage.
“I doubt it’s just a French language issue,” Mostafa Henaway, an advocate for the Center for Immigrant Workers, said in an interview last week.
Indigenous leaders across the province have also denounced the Legault government for not heeding their calls to be exempt from Bill 96, saying their sovereignty and language revitalization efforts are at stake.
On Sunday, Legault made no mention of labor shortages or health care access issues, such as emergency room capacity, waiting lists for surgeries and a shortage of family doctors. He said he would reveal a health care plan at some point in the campaign.
Statistics Canada reported in the fall that there were 279,000 open positions in Quebec in 2021.
With four months to go until the October elections, the CAQ has already recruited candidates in more than 100 constituencies, and so far half of those candidates are women. The party still has 29 of the 125 candidates to name.
Reference-www.cbc.ca