If Ottawa doesn't give Quebec more immigration powers, Legault should threaten to separate: PQ

Parti Quebecois (PQ) Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has demanded Quebec Premier Francois Legault offer an ultimatum to Ottawa over immigration: give Quebec control, or face separation.

"I ask that Francois Legault name this possibility, explicitly mention the possibility that, if Justin Trudeau does not change his mind quickly on the issue of immigration powers, it will be our freedom, it will be our independence," said Plamondon during a Thursday press conference in Quebec City.

Last week, Legault asked Ottawa to repatriate control over immigration into the province to his government. Under the current system, the power is shared. Ottawa refused.

Threatening separation in response would be out of character for the premier, who on Thursday called himself “a nationalist within Canada.”

“There is no appetite for independence,” he said.

Plamondon told reporters Quebecers are indeed hungry to leave Canada, adding a party poll found about 40 per cent of Quebecers are still interested in sovereignty.

The PQ, which drove the province to the brink of separation in 1995, now holds just seven of 125 seats in the National Assembly.

Members of Legault’s Coalition Avenir Quebec party (CAQ), which is expected to win by a landslide in October, have shrugged off any aspirations to separate.

“I’m a nationalist. I love Canada, I love Quebec,” said CAQ MNA Lucie Lecours Thursday.

“For the coalition, for me, this question is behind us,” said Environment Minister Benoit Charette.

‘A QUESTION OF SURVIVAL’

Quebec receives about 50,000 immigrants a year, and immigration control is linked to the "very existence" of French in Quebec, said Legault.

"It's important that Quebecers understand that it's a question of survival for French Quebec," said Legault last week.

With greater power over who comes into the province, the National Assembly could, in theory, expand immigration requirements to include knowledge of French.

If nothing changes, said Legault, "it may become a matter of time before we become a Louisiana."

That comment drew criticism from opposition parties, who accused him of inventing a crisis and suggesting immigrants are a threat.

He responded by saying statistics suggest fewer people are speaking French at home and at work in Quebec, which he said is proof of its instability.

"From the moment there is a decline, we can make a projection," he said in response. "Will it take 25 years, 50 years, 60 years? But from the moment there is a decline, everyone who wants the next generations to speak French should be concerned."

Legault initially said he was “confident” he’d receive immigration control, but Ottawa quickly rejected his request.

READ MORE: Trudeau says no to Legault on transferring immigration powers

"A country must certainly continue to have a say in its immigration," Trudeau said Tuesday as he entered a cabinet meeting.

Jurisdiction is shared between the two levels of government "because the protection of French and francophone immigration is very important to us," Trudeau added.

Without federal support, Plamondon said the only way to pressure the government is with the threat of separation.

“At some point, as a premier, you have the responsibility towards your people,” he said.

“In the larger scale of history. He says that it's fundamental, for the survival of the Québec nation, that he gets all the powers in immigration.”

-- With files from CTV News Montreal's Matt Grillo and The Canadian Press.