Ottawa responds to Premier Legault’s comments on immigration in a letter

The federal government responded to comments made by Premier François Legault, who had asked the Bloc Québécois to bring down the Trudeau government on the grounds that Ottawa is not doing enough on the immigration file, in a letter sent Tuesday.

Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc sent a letter to the new Quebec Immigration Minister, Jean-François Roberge, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press.

The two federal ministers wrote that they were “surprised to learn of the comments made last week by the Premier of Quebec to the effect that the actions taken by the Government of Canada over the past six months were insufficient.”

Miller and LeBlanc said they wanted to “set the record straight.”

In the letter addressed to Minister Roberge, who has been Minister of Immigration since Christine Fréchette replaced Pierre Fitzgibbon as Minister of the Economy, they listed the measures taken by the Government of Canada to manage the immigration file.

They also requested various actions from Quebec, including that it share with Ottawa the data needed to identify asylum seekers who are ready to settle outside Quebec.

“We believe that this initiative would have a better chance of success if Quebec joined forces with us to encourage conservative provincial governments to participate, rather than encouraging a motion of censure by Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives,” the letter reads.

The number of temporary immigrants in Quebec has been a concern for Premier Legault for several months, who is asking the federal government to reduce their number, saying that the province’s reception capacity has been exceeded.

Last week, Legault had asked the Bloc Québécois not to support the Liberal government in a confidence vote in the Commons, on the pretext that Ottawa is not doing enough on the immigration file. The Bloc refused this request.

The document sent to Minister Roberge highlights in particular that the federal government negotiated the signing of an additional protocol to the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States, which, since its entry into force in March 2023, has reduced the number of irregular crossings at the Canada-U.S. border, according to the letter.

Ministers Miller and LeBlanc also point out that Ottawa, in February 2024, “introduced a partial visa requirement for Mexican citizens, who represented approximately 17 per cent of all asylum claims in 2023.” Following these changes, the number of overall claims filed by Mexican citizens has decreased by more than 75 per cent, the federal ministers wrote.

The letter also details the commitments made by the federal government following the meeting between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and François Legault on immigration last June. The document specifies that Ottawa has implemented measures to improve access to the job market for asylum seekers.

“For example, Employment and Social Development Canada has added a function to the Job Bank to match asylum seekers with job opportunities across the country, and this function is already starting to be used,” the letter says, stressing that it will be important to promote this initiative to asylum seekers in Quebec for it to be effective.

“Immigration is a shared jurisdiction, and the Government of Canada is seeking collaboration and concrete actions from the Government of Quebec so that certain commitments communicated last June can produce more results,” the letter concludes.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews