Legault to create Quebec committee in bid to seek more autonomy from Ottawa

The National Assembly spring session in Quebec City is over, but, before the summer break, Premier François Legault announced a new committee that will look at how to strengthen Quebec powers within Canada.

"We must continue to strengthen Quebec's autonomy within Canada," he said.

To help do this, Legault is setting up a committee made up of six experts to explore how Quebec could get more powers.

"The federal government does not respect our jurisdictions including in health care and I'm not the only government saying that," said Legault.

In his roughly 10-minute speech, Legault said Ottawa acts like Quebecers are not capable of governing themselves, and the federal government has intensified a trend towards centralization of powers and encroachment.

Opposition parties in Quebec City say the new committee is an admission of failure.

"If he had results after six years he wouldn't have needed that committee, so at face value it is an admission that the results are not there yet," said Quebec Solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

"I think that it's a proof of his failure of imagining the future of Quebec in the context of the Canadian constitution," said interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay.

Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said the CAQ already identified powers that must be given to Quebec almost 10 years ago.

Instead, he wants to know what the committee will recommend as recourse if Ottawa tells Quebec, "No," over and over.

"We have our own answer but we are very curious to see what answer will be given by such a committee," said St-Pierre Plamondon.

The announcement comes ahead of Legault's one-on-one with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday.

The two are meeting in Quebec City to discuss the province's 560,000 temporary immigrants and asylum seekers.

Legault said Trudeau created the problem and he needs to fix it immediately.

"Right now it hurts our services, [and] the future of French, so we're looking at what we can do with the actual powers that we have," said Legault.