The Trudeau government exercised restraint during the election campaign. He couldn’t wait to pass on the currency of his game to Francois Legault.
The message is clear. The CAQ may have received its “strong mandate” to ensure the survival of the Quebec nation, but Ottawa has no interest in transferring more immigration powers to Quebec.
François Legault must now decide what he wants. Does he favor “toe-tapping nationalism” or real progress on immigration? There is a question.
The answer will be decisive not only for the CAQ’s second term, but also for Canadian unity.
Icon or Results?
It’s tempting to mock Quebec’s lieutenant, Pablo Rodríguez, for affirming in an interview with Mario Dumont that family reunification in response to Quebec’s demands is a matter of love rather than French.
Furthermore, it would require willful blindness not to understand that the federal government has absolutely no interest in leaving this area of immigrant choice to Quebec. It was the only real lever he had left, and he wasn’t going to give it up.
Moreover, 20 years on, Quebec still doesn’t blame the federal government if it fails to adequately franchise immigrants.
This brings us back to the existential question. What does Francois Legault want?
If Quebec wants immigration to be more effective and to meet the need to stem French decline, several areas of action can be negotiated. We only have to think about student visas granted preferentially to Anglophones, illusory delays for temporary foreign workers, etc.
But if the aim of the operation was to gain a monopoly on emigration to Quebec, it was understood by all that this maneuver would fail.
François Legault reaps what he sows: mistrust.
And Alberta?
Despite everything, the temptation of confrontation is great. It has already paid off and Francois Legault will no longer be alone on the ice “all or nothing”.
The Alberta Conservatives have just elected the ultimate champion of autonomy as their party leader.
New Premier Daniel Smith has pledged to pass the Alberta Sovereignty Act, which would allow the province to opt out of any federal laws or regulations it deems contrary to its interests.
We return to the legitimacy of the maneuver. From a political perspective, a constitutional crisis has all the elements.
Because whether we agree with Alberta’s complaints or not, they are real. Like a very large number of Quebec voters.
Beyond being happy to stand up to Francois Legault, Justin Trudeau will one day have to worry about this increasingly fragile Canadian unity.
Gone are the days of the pandemic when he wrote checks for billions to buy peace.
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