The gap is widening between the federal government and the Quebec government regarding the number of immigrants expected to be received annually.
Conflicting views have emerged in this area between the minister responsible for the French language and Canadian relations in the Quebec government, Jean-François Roberge, and his federal counterpart responsible for the two official languages, Ginette Petitpas Taylor, during a seminar organized by the Greater Montreal Chamber of Commerce.
This divergence, which was discussed in a press dialogue following the seminar that brought them together with the chamber president Michel Leblanc, was in contradiction with their harmony on the language issue.
Minister Petitpas Taylor sought to downplay the importance of the 100 million population target in Canada by 2100, which was called the "Century Initiative" and was presented in 2016 by a committee formed by Bill Morneau, then Minister of Finance in Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government in Ottawa. She said that this target does not constitute an official policy of the Trudeau government.
“What is called the Century Initiative is, for me, the whim of the century. It has no meaning,” said the minister responsible for the French language and Canadian relations in the Coalition Avenir Québec government. Nevertheless, Minister Petitpas Taylor pointed to the "demographic loss," aging population, and labor shortage that significantly impact the Canadian economy, all of which are elements that support, from her point of view, her government's desire to "increase targets" concerning immigrants received in Canada.
Regarding Ottawa’s intention to open the doors to 500,000 immigrants annually by 2025, an official position issued by Trudeau himself, it was also strongly rejected by Quebec. “It is not reasonable to believe that we can absorb all these people in the short term. Currently, there is a housing shortage, people are struggling to find spots in daycare for their children, and they are fighting to find school places. Things must be done in order,” said Minister Roberge. Regarding the language and Francization issue, Minister Roberge and Minister Petitpas Taylor spoke with one voice, showing an unprecedented intellectual harmony in the history of Quebec-Ottawa relations on the language issue.
Ottawa’s decision to recognize for the first time that the French language is also threatened in Quebec, not only in French-speaking communities outside Quebec, is one of the main reasons for this harmony.
Minister Roberge took the opportunity to urge the Senate to approve the federal Bill "C-13" regarding the two official languages without amendment, indicating the huge leap forward achieved in the relationship between the government of François Legault in Quebec and Justin Trudeau’s government in Ottawa on the language matter.
It is noted that Quebec is the only Canadian province inhabited by a majority French-speaking population.