QUEBEC — On the defensive over controversial remarks made in Paris, Premier François Legault stuck to his opinions Tuesday and said he believes his message on asylum seekers is resonating with Quebecers.
But Quebec’s opposition parties added their voices to those criticizing Legault, with interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay accusing Legault of shaming Quebec on the international scene because he said asylum seekers should be forced to move out of Quebec to other provinces.
Arriving at the legislature after returning from Europe on the weekend, Legault was asked by reporters if he thinks Quebecers understood what he was saying in commenting on the immigration question at almost every stop of his trip.
“I think there’s a message which is starting to get through,” Legault told reporters while walking in the hall. “The debate on this took place in Europe a while back, but in Quebec we’re starting it.”
He did not elaborate but did say over the weekend that he believes he has the support of the majority of Quebecers in what appears to be his new political battle.
On a visit to Paris last week to generate business and attend the summit of francophone nations, Legault sparked controversy when he allowed his frustration of what he says is a lack of action by Ottawa to reduce the number of asylum seekers — he believes there are 160,000 in Quebec — to spill over into his trip.
He compared Ottawa’s inaction with steps taken by the French, which he said were effective.
It started with him saying Quebec could examine the French model of creating “waiting zones” for new arrivals in Canada to decide how they can be distributed. Later, Legault went further, suggesting the federal government force about 80,000 asylum seekers in Quebec to move to other provinces.
The comments have earned Legault a stiff rebuke from political analysts, the opposition parties and the Bloc Québécois, which said it is not willing to go down this path with him.
It was later revealed that the federal government had informed Legault before he made his comments that obliging temporary immigrants to go to another province would be impossible because it would be a violation of their charter rights.
Just before returning to Quebec on the weekend, Legault granted a series of interviews in which he tried to explain his comments. He told some reporters that any redistribution of temporary immigrants would be done “humanely,” but it would be up to Ottawa to figure out how to go about that.
He suggested immigrants who had been in Quebec for a short time without deep roots would be easier to move than others.
He also said he was a frank talker and Quebecers appreciate that side of his personality.
“I have the support of the majority of Quebecers,” Legault told La Presse Canadienne without offering any particular data to back up his statement.
The opposition, however, was pumped and ready for his return, using their morning news conferences to hammer Legault for his behaviour on an international stage.
“These are vulnerable people, not merchandise,” Tanguay said. “Mr. Legault, as a Quebecer, shamed us in France.
“Unfortunately, I think Mr. Legault is using the immigration issue for petty politics. He needed a diversion on the fact public finances (in Quebec) are out of control.”
He challenged Legault’s assertion that the people are with him.
“He was not expressing Quebecers’ values,” Tanguay said. “Quebecers are not on his side. It’s shameful, it’s not part of Quebec. It has been very bad for Quebec’s reputation in the world.”
Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois warned that Legault seems to be going down the path of American politics with his scheme.
“We have seen the separation of families in the United States,” he said. “We saw detention centres. I am not saying that Mr. Legault is proposing this, but this is the kind of thing you see in the United States and we don’t want in Quebec.
“This is not what Quebecers are about. Mr. Legault has no allies on this.”
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon ridiculed Legault, saying that he’s living in a fantasy land because he knows that none of his ideas will fly with Ottawa.
“It’s like a fairy-tale universe where things that he knows are not working do — suddenly and magically,” St-Pierre Plamondon said. “The hard truth is that he has no power or influence in Canada. So his agenda is in a deadlock.”
Later, during question period, St-Pierre Plamondon tried to box in Legault, saying the only reason certain countries in Europe can manage their immigration differently is because they are independent countries.
Legault, however, deflected the criticism, saying the PQ’s solution to everything is sovereignty. He said all the countries of Europe are examining ways to distribute asylum seekers.
“So it is possible to do it humanely, but I think we have a better chance of succeeding with the federal government than to be obsessed about a referendum on the sovereignty of Quebec,” Legault said.
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