“Immigration is wealth for Quebec,” the leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec tweeted Wednesday night, hours after making the statement at a campaign stop in Victoriaville, Que. “Integration will always be a challenge for a Francophone nation in North America. I did not mean to associate immigration with violence. I am sorry if my comments caused confusion. My desire is to unite.” By the time Legault tweeted his apology at 5:44 p.m., his comments had drawn criticism from other party leaders vying for premiership and had begun to overshadow other campaign news of the day. When he said it, Legault had been asked why he was so adamant about keeping Quebec’s immigration levels below 50,000, despite the province’s severe labor shortage. “Quebecers are peaceful,” he had said. “They don’t like conflict and extremism and violence. And we have to make sure we keep things the way they are now.” Legault also repeated an argument he and other CAQ candidates have often used to defend the party’s stance, saying that Quebec struggles to integrate newcomers and that it was not alone among provinces and jurisdictions around the world facing this the challenge. He didn’t explain what he meant by integration or how immigrants in the province were finding it difficult to do so — but said it was more difficult in Quebec because of its French-speaking status on a predominantly English-speaking continent. “It presents a big integration challenge [as far as] the kind of society we want. After all, in our society we have [certain] values,” Legault said, pointing to secularism and “respect” as examples. “There is a way to live here and we want to keep it.” During the campaign, the competing parties have set different immigration targets. Legault said a limit of about 50,000 newcomers a year would help protect the French language. The Parti Québécois has promised to reduce the number of newly arrived immigrants to 35,000. Québec Solidaire and the Quebec Liberals alone have committed to welcoming more than 50,000 newcomers. Quebec’s immigration levels have been set at between 40,000 and 50,000 per year in recent years, but the province has said it will welcome nearly 70,000 immigrants in 2022 to cover shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal Liberal government, meanwhile, wants to bring in 450,000 immigrants a year across the country. Business groups have called for more immigrants to help address labor shortages. Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade said François Legault’s comments are the latest example of the CAQ leader creating division among Quebecers. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Comments divisive and “dangerous,” says Quebec Liberal leader
Legault’s comments quickly drew criticism from members of other parties, including Dominique Anglade, the leader of the Quebec Liberals. Anglade called Legault’s comments “dangerous” and said the last thing the province needs are people fueling division. “Francois Legault never stops dividing Quebecers,” he said. Stéphanie Valois, president of the province’s immigration lawyers’ association, said people who choose to come to Quebec and other provinces do so because they want to participate in the Quebec and Canadian way of life. “I don’t see any migration that will bring violence or conflict. This is not the migration I know,” Valois said. “I think we all need to remember that immigration is definitely an important issue for our society. In our society we already have an overwhelming majority of immigrants, whether they are first, second or third generation.” Quebec Conservative Party leader Éric Duhaime and Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon had also condemned the comments. Conservative candidate for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Louise Poudrier, is set to appear on the Youtube show of André Pitre, who has shared racist conspiracy theories, tonight.
