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QUEBEC — The Quebec government has no plans to cut welfare payments or offer free bus tickets to asylum seekers as a way to push them into other provinces, says Premier François Legault.
“It’s not something we’re considering,” Legault told reporters Wednesday as he walked into the National Assembly.
Legault was reacting to a report in La Presse Wednesday that revealed Quebec examined a range of other options with the goal of encouraging 80,000 asylum seekers to leave Quebec.
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Besides the idea of forcing them to move, an idea floated by Legault in Paris last week, other options were considered including paying transport costs to other provinces, offering financial incentives and reducing their services in Quebec, including welfare payments.
Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge also moved to put a lid on the story when he met reporters but did not deny the idea was examined.
“It’s not an option, it’s not in our plans,” Roberge said. “What we’re doing now is work with Ottawa to reduce the number of asylum seekers and redistribute them
“We’re evaluating all kinds of options, but this was not retained, it’s not on the table. We had a lot of reflection, but it’s not on our radar to do so.”
But the idea Wednesday was being compared to an attempt by the city of New York, which in February 2023 offered free bus tickets to asylum seekers to leave the city including travelling to Plattsburgh, which is a mere 45 kilometres from the since-closed Roxham Road crossing.
Last week it was revealed that despite Legault’s Paris musings, the federal government told him forcing asylum seekers to move to other provinces was not an option because it would violate their charter rights.
Undaunted, Legault did not back down on examining options Tuesday, saying the debate on asylum seekers in Quebec is just starting.
X.com/philipauthier
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