Asylum seekers in Quebec: Ottawa will protect 'fundamental rights'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a press conference at the Francophonie Summit in Paris, France on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent a pointed reply on Saturday to Quebec Premier François Legault's suggestion that half of the asylum seekers already settled in Quebec should be forcibly moved to other provinces.

"We are here to work constructively while defending people's fundamental rights," Trudeau said in Paris at a press conference on the sidelines of the second and final day of the Francophonie Summit.

Trudeau said from the outset that he wanted to avoid focusing on "various domestic political issues" when travelling abroad.

Yet that is exactly what Legault did throughout the week during his visit to France, which began with a three-day economic mission.

He raised the idea of using France as a model for creating "waiting zones" for asylum seekers, and then forcibly moving 80,000 of them living in Quebec to other provinces -- a move that earned him criticism from the opposition in Quebec City, the federal government and the Bloc Québécois.

Ottawa pointed out that compulsory transfers would violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And the federal government says it is "out of the question" to derogate from it by invoking the notwithstanding clause.

"As for the waiting zones, Trudeau simply said that 'different countries have different issues and different ways of approaching them.' And Ottawa is working with the provinces to welcome asylum seekers' in an appropriate way," he said.

The Legault government keeps repeating that the number of asylum seekers Quebec is receiving "is no longer sustainable." It also notes that Ottawa's approach of relying solely on the "will" of the provinces and asylum seekers has, in fact, produced "no results."

On X, the interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay, described Legault's visit to France as a "trip of shame." According to him, Legault was "once again demonstrated his inability to demonstrate the high standards required of a premier."

"In 2018, after a series of blunders on immigration, he admitted that he was 'not a budding genius' in this area. It has to be said that, six years on, he has still not managed to demonstrate the slightest competence or, worse still, sensitivity in this area," he wrote.

Legault did not plan to speak to the media on Saturday, and his team indicated that he did not intend to react for the day.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 5, 2024.