Legault says immigration limit helps immigrants

François Legault stood before a crowd in one of Montreal’s most ethnically diverse neighbourhoods Monday and tried to ease any possible fears over his party ’s views on immigration.

Speaking at a rally in Montreal North, organized by five Haitian candidates for Coalition Avenir Québec, Legault reiterated his party is focused on what he called “successful immigration.”

“Take in less,” he said of new immigrants to Quebec, “but take better care of them.”

Under a CAQ government, immigration in the province would be reduced from 50,000 to 40,000 people per year and all new arrivals would need to pass a language and values test within three years.

The rally came at the end of a day spent answering questions on immigration after Quebec Liberal Party Leader Philippe Couillard said the issue is the “ballot question” of the election.

Asked about visible minorities who might fear his immigration plan or find it discriminatory, Legault blamed the Liberal Party’s “fear tactics.”

“I have an opponent who is spreading falsehoods on our positions and calling us intolerant,” Legault said, “when what we really want is the opposite: to better welcome immigrants.”

As for what values some immigrants might not share with Quebecers, Legault spoke about equality between men and women, democracy, a secular government and not mixing “religion and power.”

“They have to know that,” Legault said. “It’s important they learn our values.”

Among the rally organizers was CAQ candidate Lionel Carmant. Asked about the issue earlier in the day, Carmant said the party’s stance is decidedly “pro-immigration” but that it maybe wasn’t coming across right in “five-second news clips.”

He agreed there might be a resistance by immigrant families to vote for the CAQ.

“There is resistance because from generation to generation, they’ve been voting for the Liberals,” he said. “So we really want to explain to them how we want to improve the immigration process so they can believe that it can be done.”

On Monday morning, Legault stopped by a retirement home in Châteauguay to announce the party’s plan to bolster home care and help seniors stay in their homes longer.

Legault said a CAQ government would invest $800 million in home care during its first mandate and develop a provincewide policy to oversee the services throughout Quebec.

The party would also review pay for family doctors who would like to offer more services in homes but feel limited “because that kind of care isn’t valued enough.”

“Society is aging and it is much more expensive when someone goes to the emergency room once a month than it is to take care of them at home,” Legault said. “In order to remove the pressure on our hospitals and health clinics, we need to have better home care.”

The CAQ would invest $200 million per year over four years to allow CLSCs to hire more staff to offer services to seniors at home. Legault said it would also deploy a system of automated calls to seniors to try to prevent isolation and detect emergencies.

“Thousands of seniors find themselves waiting several months before receiving care at home,” Legault said. “The government has neglected our elderly for too long under the Liberals.”

Legault is scheduled to spend Tuesday campaigning in Laval, Trois-Rivières and St-Tite.