QUEBEC — The minister responsible for immigration has justified the presentation of new legislation on the integration of immigrants by saying he wants to promote a common Quebec culture and less “ghettoization” of new arrivals.
Jean-François Roberge, the minister of immigration, francization and integration, said the legislation he will table Thursday will act as a counterweight to the Canadian concept of multiculturalism, which he said remains a bad fit because it fails to clearly define a common culture with principles Quebec believes in.
Newcomers need to clearly understand Quebec is different from the rest of Canada when they arrive, he said.
He said the proof of the need for a new bill, with a focus on the concept of interculturalism, lies in part in new data produced by the Quebec’s French language commissioner showing the children of immigrants identify less with Quebec than their parents did.
“There is something broken,” Roberge told reporters at a news conference. “I don’t think we have, at this moment, a clearly defined social contract. We never outlined it.
“We can’t criticize people who are not aware of something which has never been clearly defined.
“With our plan, with our bill, we will be pretty clear: We are a nation, we have a culture, we have democratic values, men and women are equal. People coming here must accept that.”
Roberge, however, was vague on how he plans to apply what remains for now a statement of principles. The mechanics of how it will be applied will be included in the legislation, he said.
He did say, however, that the bill will revolve around the principle of reciprocity and a “moral obligation to adhere to Quebec culture in the larger sense.”
“We are a welcoming society, we remain open to the world. We want diversity on the Quebec territory but we want a mix. We don’t want people living next to one another. We think the ghettoization does not serve social cohesion.”
He refuted, howerver, questions about whether the Coalition Avenir Québec government is again stirring up the identity issue as a way to shore up its sliding popularity.
He said the CAQ government adopted other pieces of identity legislation, such as Bill 21 on state secularism and Bill 96 overhauling the Charter of the French Language, early in its mandate before the party fell from grace with voters.
“Our values don’t change based on the latest polls,” Roberge said.
Roberge made the comments as the National Assembly resumed work Tuesday following the Christmas break. Much of the focus of the session will be on the economy and the potential impact of American tariffs…
Premier François Legault made it clear at a caucus meeting last week that other issues will be on the agenda, including those revolving around identity.
Roberge set the stage for the bill in a video Monday in which he said the new bill will be a logical follow to bills 21 and 96.
“For the first time in our history, we will define who we are and how we want to continue to evolve as a nation,” Roberge said in the video. “With this bill, we propose a social contract uniting all Quebecers.”
But Roberge was hit with questions about the government’s current inability to offer enough French courses to meet the demand of those arriving here already to integrate.
On the defensive, Roberge said Quebec is teaching more people than ever the language — 80,000 in 2024 alone — and will improve the situation further in 2025. Waiting lists are long because too many immigrants have arrived in Quebec and he plans to reduce the total in the future, he said.
“We are going to put the brakes on new arrivals,” Roberge said. “Those who are here will be able to learn French and we will put the brakes on new arrivals including temporary (immigrants) on our territory.”
Quebec’s opposition parties, however, remained skeptical about the government’s motives.
Interim Liberal Leader Marc Tanguay said his party is always open to discuss such issues as interculturalism but warned the new bill has to also respect fundamental rights.
He said the government also has to put up the money to back its principles, which he said it has not done in the past.
“I think the first person who spoke of interculturalism was (former Liberal premier) Robert Bourassa in the ‘70s,” Tanguay said. “We are interculturalists and ready to work on this, but again the devil is in the details. We must not divide (Quebecers).”
Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal said there is an “incoherence” in the Roberge message because he says immigrants need to integrate, yet the government keeps cutting French language courses.
Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said that while he doesn’t believe everything in the new bill will be useless, the CAQ’s track record on the immigration issue remains questionable because of its lack of results.
“Let’s just say the CAQ has been good at window-dressing for the past seven years, so we’ll keep an eye on that,” St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters.