Legault, Trudeau to discuss immigration in Montreal
Quebec Premier François Legault and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are expected to meet Friday morning in Montreal to discuss the contentious issue of immigration.
The meeting is scheduled to start shortly after 9 a.m., with Trudeau expected to hold a press scrum at 10 a.m. and Legault speaking at 11:30 a.m.
Legault is expected to ask Trudeau to hand over all immigration powers to Quebec.
Currently, immigration is a shared jurisdiction between Quebec and Ottawa.
During question period in the National Assembly Thursday, Legault indicated that he was already assessing his options in the event of a refusal.
The demand for full immigration powers for Quebec has been part of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) platform since 2015, but the party has never been successful.
The Legault government claims that Quebec's capacity has been exceeded and it can no longer provide public services to new arrivals, whether in terms of francization, schooling, social assistance, legal aid and health services amid a housing crisis.
Quebec maintains that "we're approaching a crisis," and is demanding $1 billion from the federal government for expenses incurred for receiving asylum seekers since 2021.
Ottawa has endorsed $155 million of the bill, and the federal government's Quebec lieutenant, Pablo Rodriguez, has invited the province to discuss the issue.
Under a Canada-Quebec agreement signed in 1991, Quebec controls the volume of entry of future permanent residents and economic immigrants, as well as their integration and francization.
Economic immigration accounted for 66 per cent of permanent immigration in 2022.
The federal government handles refugees, family reunification and citizenship issues.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 15, 2024.
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