Federal government cool to giving Quebec greater immigration powers
Quebec Premier François Legault still hopes to convince Ottawa to restore to Quebec the power to designate where immigrants will live, a measure that would allow the province to direct new arrivals to regions in need of workers. However, everything suggests that Ottawa is less than enthusiastic about the idea. In an email to the Presse Canadienne, federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc states that Ottawa will respect the Canada- Québec Agreement on immigration, which is to analyze the Legault government’s proposed immigration legislation, but “first and foremost, we are not favourable to the reintroduction of the permanent residence condition.” LeBlanc said the federal government is ready to work with Quebec to solve the problems created by a shortfall in the province’s labour force, but he notes that the permanent residence conditions introduced by the Harper government in 2012 were withdrawn by the Liberals “because they endangered spouses in difficult circumstances.” Speaking to reporters Friday during a visit to an understaffed business in Beauceville, Legault said that even if Ottawa maintained its position on permanent residency, it would still be possible to impose Quebec’s conditions on temporary workers who want to immigrate to Canada. “When a business signs a contract to hire someone from outside Quebec or Canada, there is the possibility to assign that person to a business for one or two years,” he said, adding that “there are a lot of temporary workers interested in becoming permanent immigrants” and by culling applicants from that pool of workers “we can reach the same goal.” “First, assign them to a job,” said Legault. “Second, before giving them a permanent residence and citizenship, require they successfully pass a French test and a values test.” As for actually getting the power to do so with would-be immigrants, Legault said he is “confident that Mr. Trudeau will accept because it’s a power that was given to Quebec in the time of (Quebec premier) Robert Bourassa. I don’t see why we can’t regain a power we already had.”