There is fierce and intense competition and political bickering between François Legault, Premier of Quebec, and the federal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, ahead of the upcoming elections, aimed at gaining greater benefits and powers for the province. The latest was the threat made by the Premier of Quebec yesterday, Tuesday, to hold a referendum on immigration if he does not get what he wants from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Legault is pressuring the federal government for more control over immigration, but Trudeau closed the door on granting the province full control over immigration last month.

Legault also questioned: Will we ultimately hold a referendum to gain full control over immigration? Will we do that on a broader scale for other issues?

He continued: “It will depend on the results of discussions with the federal government, and don’t forget that Mr. Trudeau promised me a meeting by June 30 at the latest, so I expect results there.”

Speaking to reporters in Quebec City, Legault complained that the province has received more than 500,000 temporary foreign workers and asylum seekers over the past eight years.

He said: The federal government allowed the number of temporary immigrants to rise to 560,000.”

He added: “This causes huge problems for the people of Quebec, and we lack teachers, nurses, housing, and immigrants and asylum seekers pose a real challenge to the future of the French language, especially in Montreal. Legault confirmed that the referendum is not in our short-term plan.”

However, he added: “Do we need to hold a referendum so that Mr. Trudeau is convinced that the majority of Quebec residents say it does not make sense to allow 560,000 immigrants to come to Quebec?”

He noted that Trudeau recently admitted that Canada welcomed a very large number of immigrants.

Legault pointed out that this is the first time he has said that.”

Last week, Trudeau said that temporary immigration must be put under control," adding that the number of temporary foreign workers and international students “has grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb.

Legault also said the problem could be solved if the federal government gave Quebec the authority to pre-approve all temporary immigrants, and in this way Quebec can control the number of arrivals and set French language requirements.

Notably, after his meeting with Legault on March 15, Trudeau said: No, we will not grant Quebec more powers regarding immigration, as Quebec already has greater powers concerning immigration than any other province because it is very important to protect the French language.

At that time, Legault said Trudeau secretly expressed openness to discussing the idea of giving Quebec a say in accepting temporary workers, and will consider new rules
to ensure that more workers speak French.