Although François Legault does not say he is completely satisfied with the result of his meeting Monday with Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Quebec can be pleased that Ottawa has responded, at least in part, to all of his requests.
This is at least the opinion of the professor at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, Geneviève Tellier, who affirms in an interview with Québec Matin that few people had predicted that a sum would be paid to Quebec as important as the $750 million advanced by the federal government.
“This is more than most observers expected,” she said. [François Legault] must be happy, he’s not going to say it publicly, but we’re still not far from the mark and that covers a lot of needs.”
“I have the impression that Mr. Legault did not really expect to receive this money,” she adds. “It’s a significant sum that he will receive.”
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The latter was particularly surprised to see Ottawa respond to Quebec’s requests regarding francization.
“I find that it responded quite well to all of François Legault’s requests, particularly francization,” she said. That’s the aspect that surprised me the most. When temporary immigrants want to renew their permit after three years, they will have to demonstrate that they have knowledge of French.”
“For me, this is the first time that the federal government has gone this far in language requirements,” she adds. They often said they couldn’t demand it.”
However, the professor at the School of Political Studies doubts Ottawa’s ability to speed up the processing of files.
“I don’t see how the government can increase its productivity at the moment. We’ve been talking about it for years and it hasn’t been successful. But again, Mr. Legault asked for things to go faster and the federal government is offering it.”
“Everything that Mr. Legault asked was looked at and there is a response from the federal government,” she adds. It may not be exactly what Mr. Legault wanted, but there is something.”
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François Legault’s comments blaming immigrants for failures in services and housing, however, did not convince the professor.
“He cuts corners and ultimately what he does is he blames all the problems on the newcomers who already have enough difficulties,” she said.
“Yes, the increase in population puts pressure on most public services, but at the same time, we have been told for years that when the population increases, it is good because it keeps things moving. “economy so we have more labor and we can offer more services,” she continues. So, it’s a little weird to have this speech.”
This is a formula that the Premier of Quebec has not adopted for a while.
“We have a good example of what we no longer saw from the government, that is to say statements that were controversial,” explains Ms. Tellier. Mr. Legault was less present and was a little more careful, but yesterday it came back.”
Watch the full interview in the video above
