Legault knows forcibly relocating asylum seekers would violate constitution, Ottawa says

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VILLERS-COTTERÊTS, France — Quebec Premier François Legault was told this spring that forcibly relocating 80,000 asylum seekers violated constitutional obligations, a federal government source is charging.

“We can’t legally force a person to move to another province … that person has to move of their own free will. That’s always been made very clear to Quebec,” a government source, who was granted anonymity, said Friday.

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Ottawa made that clear to Quebec in early summer, before a June meeting between Legault and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which aimed to respond to immigration concerns, the source said.

Legault, who was on his fourth day of a visit to Paris Friday, has been saying since Wednesday half of the asylum seekers established in Quebec should be forcibly relocated to other provinces. The premier hasn’t indicated how he sees that happening.

The source says at a certain point, Legault’s government asked why they had to accept asylum seekers if they can’t force them to relocate.

“We didn’t think he would go so far as to say this, because we thought we’d done the work to explain that this just isn’t possible,” the source said.

A July-dated document shows Ottawa’s position in black and white, that “the relocation of asylum seekers,” must be on a “voluntary basis,” because “there is no legislative power to force transfer to another province.”

Ottawa maintains that it is “out of the question” to forcibly displace asylum seekers through the use of the notwithstanding clause in the Canadian Charter or Rights and Freedoms.

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Legault has also suggested “waiting zones” for asylum seekers, an approach taken by France. The source said the idea of “creating a certain form of centre or encampment” has “never been brought up in any meeting or political discussion” with Legault.

Ottawa’s overall position is Legault’s government should focus on resolving immigration issues within the areas it controls, such as the allocation of student visas.

Based on federal government data, four Quebec institutions are among the 10 in Canada that have seen the most students enter on visas and then ask for asylum.

Those institutions are the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, which has seen 305 students ask for asylum, the Trois-Rivières campus of Collège Ellis (255), Université Laval (225) and the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (215).

According to data also prepared by the federal government, there are 96,021 asylum seekers in Quebec, a far cry from the 160,000 claimed by the Legault government.

Ottawa hopes Legault will encourage other premiers to take in more asylum seekers. “We did our part, but we need a collaborative approach,” the source said.

The Legault government did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. The premier, who’s participating in the Francophonie Summit, has no press activities scheduled Friday.

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