Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier François Legault are slated to meet Monday afternoon in Quebec City to talk about immigration — and more specifically the best way to manage temporary immigrants.
The Quebec premier wants Ottawa to “significantly and rapidly” reduce their numbers while doing a better job at distributing asylum seekers across the country.
Quebec also wants to have a say in the selection of temporary foreign workers, and for French language skills to be considered.
In addition, the Legault government is asking Ottawa for $1 billion to cover the cost of receiving asylum seekers.
The two premiers already met on March 15 to discuss immigration.
Legault had asked for full powers over immigration but seemingly dropped the request after Trudeau refused.
Nevertheless, he continues to argue that the province has 560,000 temporary immigrants, which is putting pressure on public services.
He says Quebec has exceeded its capacity, and it’s up to the federal government to better manage the number of temporary immigrants coming into the country.
Legault initially threatened to hold a referendum on immigration but no longer seems keen on the idea.
According to him, 65 per cent of Quebecers are in favour of the province having more power over immigration.
“The problem isn’t getting the support of Quebecers, it’s making it an emergency and convincing the federal government to act now,” he said in an interview on 98.5 last Tuesday.
The meeting between the two premiers is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. on Monday.
Legault is expected to then hold a press scrum at 4 p.m.
— This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 10, 2024.