Quebec asks Ottawa for full power over immigration, Trudeau says no

Quebec will not get full power over which immi‐ grants it takes in, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday after meet‐ ing with Premier François Legault.

At the meeting in Mon‐ treal, Legault, who has said Quebec cannot take in more asylum seekers, asked Trudeau for the federal gov‐ ernment to transfer all immi‐ gration powers to Quebec.

But, speaking to reporters afterward, Trudeau said he had declined Legault's re‐ quest.

"No, we're not going to give more powers (to Que‐ bec) in immigration," Trudeau said in French. "It's not a question of jurisdiction, it's a question of finding solu‐ tions."

But Legault told reporters after Trudeau's appearance that the prime minister had demonstrated some open‐ ness to his requests.

WATCH | Prime Minister Trudeau says Ottawa has al‐ ready taken strong measures on immigration:

Trudeau seemed willing to transfer some powers to Quebec, such as the ability to admit some temporary work‐ ers, previously a federal re‐ sponsibility, Legault said.

Pointing to a graph show‐ ing a steep increase in the number of asylum seekers and temporary immigrants in Quebec over the past two years, Legault said Quebec is, essentially, full.

"Our capacity to welcome them has been surpassed," he said. "We lack teachers, we lack nurses, we lack hous‐ ing and it poses a real prob‐ lem for the future of French in Quebec."

Quebec and Canada have an agreement that allows the province to keep some mea‐ sure of control over the num‐ ber of immigrants it accepts. But the federal government is responsible for national standards related to immi‐ gration and the admission and control of visitors.

Legault pointed to the sharp rise in asylum seekers in recent years as something that has placed too much pressure on Quebec's ability to integrate and provide ser‐ vices for newcomers.

His government has asked Ottawa to reimburse $1 bil‐ lion in funding that Quebec says it has spent providing services for asylum seekers.

As of Dec. 31, 56 per cent of asylum seekers currently residing in Canada - 160,651 people out of 289,047 - are in Quebec.

Trudeau said he recog‐ nized that Quebec was doing "more than its share" con‐ cerning asylum seekers. He said his government had worked to slow the tide of asylum seekers by working with the U.S. government to close the Roxham Road ille‐ gal border crossing and, more recently, reimposing visa requirements for Mexi‐ can visitors.

On Thursday at the Na‐ tional Assembly, Legault faced pressure from Parti Québécois Leader Paul StPierre Plamondon over immi‐ gration and said he would ask Trudeau for Quebec to achieve full control over its immigration system.

Mostafa Henaway, a com‐ munity organizer with the

Montreal-based Immigrant Workers Centre, criticized the tone Legault and Trudeau struck on Friday and said both levels of government should work to reduce the barriers that prevent mi‐ grants from working or par‐ ticipating in Canadian society.

"When barriers are re‐ moved, whether it be tempo‐ rary status, whether it be closed work permits, whether it be non status, whether it be excruciating, high tuition fees as an inter‐ national student, then that equality allows people to ac‐ tually grow and to develop," he said. "Because right now we have an immigration sys‐ tem that says, you know … we want your labour, but then possibly we just want to get rid of you."