Immigrants in Quebec: needed but often ‘unwanted’ as election nears

SAINT-GEORGES, Canada, Sept 30, (AFP): Anti-immigrant sentiment is butting up against an acute labor shortage in Canada’s mostly French-speaking Quebec province ahead of a general election there on Monday.

Two of the province’s four major political parties have vowed to cut immigration despite employers saying they need more than 100,000 skilled workers, amid record-low rates of unemployment.

Francois Legault, leader of the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), which is leading in the polls, has suggested that immigration threatens Quebec’s cultural identity. He has vowed to cut it by 20 percent in 2019, if elected.

He also said he would deport any immigrants who failed a “Quebec values” test or who did not learn French within three years of arriving in the province.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, whose Liberals face an uphill re-election battle after almost 15 years in office, accused the CAQ leader of “scaremongering.”

But polls show there is substantial popular support in Quebec for curbs on immigration.

A recent Leger survey for the Huffington Post found that 48 percent of Quebecers support immigration while 38 percent see it as a growing problem.

A surge in asylum seekers from the United States since Donald Trump was elected president in 2016 has strained government services, fueling the anti-migrant views.

In the city of Saint-Georges, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) northeast of Montreal, “hiring” signs hang outside most businesses.

“I can understand that people want Quebecers to be hired first and foremost, which we try to do, but there’s none or few available,” said Louise Couture, a human resources official at semitrailer manufacturer Manac.

The regional development organization estimates that 5,000 positions for welders, machinists, cargo handlers and programmers in the area are going unfilled.

“We need to bring in a new workforce. We feel the same need in all regions of Quebec. That’s why immigration is one of the solutions,” the agency’s Melanie Poulin told AFP.