Asylum seekers: “I have the support of the majority of Quebecers,” says Legault

Despite the indignation caused by his resounding declarations on asylum seekers, the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, says he is “very satisfied” with his official visit to France and believes that he has the support of Quebecers in his fight.

I am a direct person, and I think that is appreciated by Quebecers.he summarized Saturday in an interview with La Presse Canadienne at the end of his stay during which he led an economic mission and took part in the Francophonie Summit.

Mr. Legault, who was unanimously against him, said that nonhe has no reproaches for the shock caused by his statements, emphasizing that despite their criticism, all parties in the National Assembly agree that there are too many temporary immigrants in Quebec and that it would be better to distribute asylum seekers in Canada.

I even think that I have the support of the majority of Quebecers.

Mr. Legault in turn mentioned the idea of ​​taking inspiration from France to create “waiting zones” for asylum seekers, then forcibly moving 80,000 of them who live in Quebec to other provinces.

Working on solutions

Sitting at a table in the official residence of the general delegate of Quebec in Paris, Mr. Legault had a message for the opposition parties: stop opposing each other and propose solutions.

On the one hand, they recognize that there are too many asylum seekers in Quebec – we received 45% while we present 22% of the Canadian federation – but they have absolutely nothing to offer. So, it’s too easy to criticize and then not be constructive on the solutionsdeclared the Prime Minister.

However, Mr. Legault does not intend to lend a hand to the federal government, which asks him to work to raise awareness in the provinces of the importance of a better distribution of asylum seekers and which accuses him of causing harm with his remarks. .

Last summer, François Legault managed to obtain a common front from the provinces to ask Ottawa for a fair distribution and a control asylum seekers based on the capacity of each province and territory to provide housing and services.

Now, I have no intention of going any further, he said in an interview. It is the responsibility of the federal government. We even asked the federal government to repatriate powers. They refused.

This is one of the questions we need to ask ourselves.

In front of the media on Thursday, Mr. Legault asked the former French prime minister and president of the group of Macronist deputies, Gabriel Attal, if France could expel an asylum seeker who does not speak French. Why to Mr. Attal?

Ah! Well, I asked everyone. Let’s start with Mr. Macron [le président français, qu’il a notamment croisé à un dîner officiel à l’Élysée]M. Barnier [le nouveau premier ministre français, qui l’a reçu avec tous les honneurs à l’hôtel de Matignon] and Mr. Attal.

I think that’s one of the questions that needs to be asked. If we talk about integrating asylum seekers, there is a question that arises about knowledge of the language of the country or state in question.

However, compulsory transfers would violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, insists Ottawa. The federal government says it is out of the question to deviate from it by invoking the derogation provision.

Does François Legault believe that the federal government is hiding behind the Charter to basically justify what he describes as inertia? I don’t want to answer that questionreplied the Prime Minister.

He believes that it’s up to the federal government to find solutions and see if it is a problem of law, of Charter, at the entrance, of, well, whatever.

The Prime Minister of Quebec suggests that Ottawa work to reduce the time leading to a decision whether the person making the request is truly an asylum seeker.

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Mr. Macron explained to me that since he took office, he has reduced this period from three and a half years to four months. And currently, Mr. Barnier, the new Prime Minister, was telling me: “It’s much too long, four months, we need to reduce that time frame.” In Canada, the deadline is three yearslamented Mr. Legault.

Economy and culture

Focusing on how the French government is dealing with the explosion in the number of asylum seekers was only one of three goals that the Prime Minister had on the occasion of his visit to France.

One of the main components of the trip was meetings with business representatives. He notably visited Alstom and Safran. It confirmed what I thought: many French companies want to invest in Quebeche said. And what attracts them would be Quebec’s clean electricity.

His third objective was digital. François Legault notably wanted to convince the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as well as the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) to negotiate with major platforms like Netflix and Spotify. I had a very positive receptionhe said.

In a speech to theUNESCO in front of representatives of more than 80 permanent delegations, Mr. Legault explained that safeguarding Quebec cultural identity constitutes an existential issue. He repeated that his first priority as Prime Minister is to protect the French language and Quebec culture.

Member governments of theOIF have for their part launched the appeal of Villers-Cotterêts to digital platforms, in which they demand, among other things, to contribute to cultural and linguistic diversity.