Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault will meet Tuesday in Montreal, after their important meeting was cancelled Friday due to the snowstorm that hit Quebec and Ontario.
"The meeting with the prime minister and his counterpart will take place tomorrow (Tuesday). The purpose of this meeting is to work on our common priorities such as the cost of living, health, the promotion of French, infrastructure investments and the labour shortage,'' Ann-Clara Vaillancourt, press secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said Monday.
Vaillancourt had said on Friday that Trudeau had not been able to travel to Montreal, while indicating that the two men had nevertheless been able to talk on the phone and discuss several topics, including the COP15 on biodiversity and immigration.
On immigration, in an interview last week with The Canadian Press, Trudeau said that Quebec had the capacity to take in up to 112,000 immigrants, a statement that was criticized by the Legault government.
Trudeau had to clarify his remarks later, saying he had not wanted to propose figures for Quebec.
With respect to health care, Quebec, along with the other Canadian provinces, has been arguing for years for a substantial increase in federal transfers.
The Trudeau government has said it would increase them on the condition that the provinces and territories collaborate on a national health data sharing system. However, Legault is waiting for a concrete offer from the federal government.
The two premiers met last month on the sidelines of the Francophonie Summit in Djerba, Tunisia.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 19, 2022
