Quebec Premier Francois Legault’s request to Ottawa for complete jurisdictional control over immigration has been refused by Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“No, we are not going to give more power (to Quebec) on immigration,” said Trudeau at a Montreal news conference after a meeting with Legault.
“Quebec already has more powers over immigration than any other province because it’s very important to protect French.”
Trudeau did call the conversation “very constructive,” after discussing healthcare funding, economic issues, and immigration with the Quebec premier.
However, the prime minister steered away from commenting on which government has the power.
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“But what interests me is making the system function in a better way,” he said.
“It’s not a question of who has control over what. We are here to collaborate.
“We are here to work in solution mode. It’s not a question of jurisdiction or constitution. It’s a matter of arriving at a solution, and this is what I am concentrating on.”
The federal immigration department recently bypassed Quebec’s cap to speed up family reunification, which Immigration Minister Marc Miller described as “artificially low.”
“We’re talking about people who are husbands, wives, parents, grandparents, who are waiting unsuccessfully to be reunited with their families in Quebec,” said Miller in an interview with Radio-Canada.
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This shows Ottawa’s lack of reluctance to pull rank when needed in terms of immigration, and its reluctance to give complete control to Quebec.
Quebec Premier Legault, while answering a question in the National Assembly from Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, indicated that he intended to make the request for full immigration powers during his meeting on Friday with Trudeau.
Him and Trudeau had not met on their own since December 20, 2022.
Quebec also recently upped its request for compensation for the cost of managing hundreds of asylum seekers entering the province to $1 billion.
Ottawa has agreed to pay $100 million so far.