PM, Legault spar over asylum seekers

• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday rejected Quebec’s request for additional powers over immigration, saying the province has more control over newcomers than any other Canadian jurisdiction.

In response, Premier François Legault said Quebec would “study all its options” to quickly reduce the number of asylum seekers and temporary foreign workers in the province, which stands at more than 500,000 people.

Trudeau made the comments to reporters after a meeting with Legault at the premier’s request in Montreal. The prime minister’s statement is a rebuke to Legault, who on Thursday said he would use the meeting to ask Trudeau for full control over immigration.

“No, we won’t give more powers over immigration,” Trudeau told reporters. “Quebec already has more power over immigration than any other province because it’s very important to protect French.”

Trudeau said he is more interested in finding ways of making the system work better rather than discussing jurisdiction.

“It’s not a question of who has control of what,” he said. “We’re there to collaborate, to work together.”

Shortly after, Legault held a separate news conference, during which he said it was “too soon” to give details on how the province would consider rapidly reducing the number of asylum seekers and temporary foreign workers in Quebec.

“The Quebec people have always been welcoming, but now we have surpassed our capacity,” the premier said.

Quebec already controls the number of economic immigrants to the province, but it shares responsibility with Ottawa over refugees, newcomers who arrive through the family reunification stream, and temporary foreign workers.

However, Legault said the prime minister showed a significant amount of “openness” on other matters related to immigration. The premier said Trudeau was open to requiring that temporary foreign workers be approved by Quebec before they can move to the province, a measure Legault said would amount to a “veto power” over those applicants and represent a “significant” gain.

Trudeau, the premier said, also agreed to consider imposing more travel visas, like Ottawa recently did on Mexican nationals. As well, Legault said the prime minister was open to accelerating the treatment of asylum seekers’ claims, from 18 months to six months.

Finally, Legault said, the two governments would create a working group to analyze Quebec’s demand for $1 billion in compensation from Ottawa for the money it said it spent on caring for asylum seekers in the past three years.

Legault has said that Quebec has already accepted more than its share of refugee claimants, and that the province doesn’t have enough teachers, nurses and housing to welcome more.