Onus on Ottawa to expel immigrants, Legault says
Legault accuses Couillard of being fearmonger on immigration issue
QUEBEC Any immigrant who takes the mandatory French language and values tests to be accepted into Quebec “in good faith” would likely pass, Coalition Avenir Québec leader François Legault said Friday.
One day after the question of immigration became a flashpoint of the first leaders’ debate of the provincial campaign, Legault was grilled by journalists on whether or not he would expel immigrants who failed to pass French tests and a Quebec values quiz after three years in the province.
Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard said during the debate the CAQ’s immigration policies could lead to fathers being expelled from Canada without their families.
“You scare them,” Couillard told Legault.
At a CAQ members’ rally in Quebec City Friday morning, Legault accused Couillard of being the fearmonger.
“We will be human,” he said. “We won’t separate families. It’s the fear campaign of Mr. Couillard.”
A CAQ government would institute the tests to determine if new immigrants had a grasp of “basic” or “conversational” French, that could easily be learned during weekends or on lunch breaks in free lessons offered by the province, Legault said.
The values test would be based on Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, and include questions like, “Do you agree that women are equal to men?” and “Do you recognize that the state is secular, that the laws go before religion,” and “Do you know that the homosexuals have the same rights as everyone else in our society, etc., etc.,” Legault said.
The Canadian government already makes new citizens sign a similar document pertaining to Canadian values, he said, as do numerous European countries.
Legault said 58 per cent of new immigrants to Quebec don’t speak French, and the vast majority of adults never learn, even if their children do. “French is vulnerable in Quebec,” he said.
Quebec would not expel the immigrants, as it does not have the power, Legault explained. Those who fail the tests would not receive a selection certificate from Quebec, meaning they could no longer work in the province, and the federal government would be informed of their status.
“It will be up to the federal gov- ernment what to do with that person that is illegally in Quebec,” Legault said.
Last year in Quebec, 4,000 people were expelled by the federal government for being in the province illegally, he said.
Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard called Legault’s position on expulsions laughable.
“Who would it be then?” he said. “Are you joking? No, you’re not joking, but he must be joking.”
A CAQ government would not force anyone to live in the regions, but would show them the advantages.
“I think what immigrants are often seeking is a good job. So if there are good jobs on the North Shore (northeast of Quebec City) in the mines — they aren’t underground, the majority of jobs are above ground — where the average salary is $100,000 a year. I think there are immigrants that would be interested in living on the North Shore and having a good salary and a good quality of life.”
With more than 85 per cent of immigrants settling in Montreal and Quebec City, the Liberals have failed to settle the regions and solve labour-shortage issues, Legault said.
In the afternoon, Legault and the other party leaders addressed a conference of the Union of Quebec Municipalities in Quebec City. Legault said he was in favour of turning over one per cent of the province’s sales-tax revenues to municipalities, funding culture in the regions, and providing highspeed internet throughout Quebec. He also said he would look into reducing the number of councillors in Montreal — the city has 64 city councillors and 38 borough councillors.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante accused Legault of interference.
“Today we heard Mr. Legault saying yes, he believes in autonomy and at the same time, in the same sentence, he said we should reduce the number of elected officials in Montreal,” Plante said. “To me this is a very good example of not understanding what autonomy means and what it means to respect the different cities and deciding their priorities.”
Jacob Serebrin of the Montreal Gazette contributed to this report. rbruemmer@postmedia.com twitter.com/renebruemmer