Key takeaways:
- At the Coalition Avenir Québec caucus, the premier stated he would campaign on requiring more immigration controls.
- “We changed Quebec,” he stated.
Premier François Legault gave a peek into what his regional election campaign will look like Sunday with a speech summarizing his plan to demand Ottawa hand over more immigration controls to Quebec.
This weekend, coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), Legault’s party, held its caucus in Drummondville, Que., a city northeast of Montreal.
Legault told the group of nearly 1,000 people there he wanted to ask Quebecers for a “strong order” in the Oct. 3 election to be a strong negotiator with Ottawa on topics of immigration.
The address Legault gave, which he dubbed “Pride,” was heavily nationalist, calling for the preservation of the French language and Quebec culture and listing the passing of Bills 21 (on secularism) and 96 (the overhaul of the Charter of the French language) as wins for his government.
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“We transformed Quebec,” he said.
Bill 21 outlaws civil servants in places of power, including teachers, lawyers, police officers, and judges, from wearing religious garb or symbols. In practice, the rule has influenced female Muslim teachers who wear headscarves for the most part.
While Quebec controls financial immigration to the region — a power other areas and territories in Canada do not have — the federal government is liable for family reunification and the admission of refugees, representing close to half of the newcomers to the region every year.
Legault said he wants Quebec to be able to pick much of that remaining half, besides for refugees, so that it can prioritize French-speaking foreigners. He stated that family reunification cases represent nearly 11,000 of the 50,000 people who enter the province every year.
Source – cbc.ca
