Discussion on Quebec Immigration Policies

We're talking a lot about democracy tonight.

Um, so let's have an, a, a, like a real conversation about it.

What will happen when Quebecers who are not having babies

are outbred by people who don't share the same values?

And people can refer to the Pew Research poll, which is the broadest

attitudinal,

uh, study of Muslims. I believe it was thousands,

maybe ten thousand Muslims in different countries that are, that are coming in.

That was from twenty twenty-one, the figure that I quoted,

the twelve point seven

percent. I don't know what it will be in the next

census,

but I feel that a lot of citizens' rights are going to

be, uh, clamped down on to deal with a very real

threat

because people won't tell the truth about what's going on.

And already, with the prayer legislation, it hasn't been applied.

I know that for a fact because I reported on it.

I've heard that too.

Um,

I think if we backtrack, uh, there's been this

idea

for decades now that immigration brings a solution to the

shortage of labor.

Yeah.

It's a false statement. There's no evidence.

The evidence is actually that it

worsens the labor shortage in periods of labor shortage.

And in general, economically speaking, labor shortage is not a major

problem. It has some benefits, uh, on wages.

Um,

so the idea here is that I mentioned on one press

conference that there's a link

between fertility rate of a population and the

availability of housing.

And the reasoning is basically that if you have an apartment with two rooms

and you

want five kids, it's not gonna happen.

And the cost of living creates a pressure.

So

I think that by

leaving an immigration-based policy that is invo-

imposed by Canada and going back to a model where

there's immigration, but that immigration corresponds to the

capacity.

If a government wants an environment where people

are confident and, uh, have the means to have kids,

you might improve, uh, the fertility rate,

and in which case, um,

you change the dy-- the demographic dynamics over fifty years.

But right now, what's happening is that we've been telling people for twenty

years that for economic reason,

uh, important immigration was necessary, and it was not true.

And it has all sorts of consequences that we didn't foresee or that we don't

even realize in real time.

And, um, it's sad because Quebec had

a quite good immigration policy before Ottawa

under Trudeau decided to... I mean, the, the figures

were-

Yeah, Bill Darby and a couple of executives,

you know, is the

narrative that most Quebecers don't know about, but the problems were already

there. That was in the '80s.

I mean, the hou-- the cost of housing in the 2000s

was stable.

French was in slight progression in Montreal. There was no issue there.

Um, I think we're dealing with ideology drift,

and that ideological drift brings false solutions to

problems,

uh, or pro-- false problems and to, to bring policies.

Uh,

so I mean, I'll do my best. I mean,

uh-

So you'll cut, you'll cut immigration?

Yeah, that's what I've promised, uh, uh-

And you'll work on integration.

Yeah, it's part of our program. And, and, and, and, and I'm very careful

to... so that people get that it's a win-win for everyone because

part of the

Liberal, uh, party, uh, Parti Libéral du Canada,

Liberal Party of Canada

policy is to say that if you're from a community,

uh, from immigration, you always want more

immigration.

And so, eh-eh-eh they, they go to groups, and they say, "Look at

the bad Parti Québécois. They want less immigration.

They're against you." Whereas who's suffering the most right

now from housing costs that are at the roof?

And-

Well, it's, it's, it's many families that didn't come to

Quebec with millions of dollars,

and it's mainly, uh, working class people who, uh,

can't get, uh, the end, uh... at the end of the month,

they can't get the, the

figures together.

So it's, it's, it's not a win for anyone right now.

But that's maybe the difficulty I have.

It, it, it's to bring those topics, and I did it with a lot of

prudence in the public space.

It brings accusations that prevents the

dialogue that should lead to the idea that

it's not a win for anyone right now,

and that our interests are the same,

whether we're from that region, that age, or that group or that

community. It, it's just bad policymaking

imposed by Ottawa.

But so far, I haven't been able

to get the listening or the space because the

accusations are quite harsh, and so it creates,

um, a suspicion

or a, uh, lack of receptivity. Whereas I think it's

really a discourse that applies to recent immigrants

that are now Quebecers. Quebecers that are here for forty years now, or

Quebecers whose family is here for generations, it's the same

interests. And that's why I started saying to my

team, "Let's do just

town halls, and let's, let's just say what we have to say

and take the

questions." Because I, I don't see why we would be

divided

in demanding sound public policies on those

topics. There's nothing radical or aggressive

about what I'm trying to achieve. I just want intelligent and sound

policies on those topics.

So we'll see.