Trudeau maintains position on immigration in face of Legault's demands

Fallout over Legault’s immigration comments There’s continued fallout over CAQ leader Francois Legault’s comments concerning immigrants and social peace.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared to keep the door double locked Wednesday in the face of Quebec premier François Legault's demands for increased immigration powers.

"We're here to protect French in Quebec and across the country. We're going to continue to work together," Trudeau said in a press scrum before heading to a Liberal caucus meeting.

A reporter asked him if he agreed that the substantial majority won by Legault in the recently concluded election gave him more leverage against Ottawa.

Trudeau promptly dodged the question.

"On immigration, there are many things we can do. We know that immigration is a source of wealth and growth for Quebec," he said. "We will continue to be there to ensure that there is more immigration in Quebec and we are very happy to work with the premier."

Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) leader François Legault campaigned on a commitment to maintain the province's yearly threshold for newcomers at 50,000. According to him, the vitality of the French language depends on it.

Legault has also pushed to bring more immigration powers back into the provincial fold.

To do this, the re-elected premier has raised the idea of holding a sectoral referendum on immigration.

Currently, immigration is a shared jurisdiction between Quebec and Ottawa.The referendum would allow voters to support or oppose giving Quebec more control over its immigration.

But the Trudeau government's Quebec lieutenant, Pablo Rodriguez, argues that the province already has "all the tools in hand right now to choose the vast majority of its immigrants."

A SUMMIT ON HEALTH TRANSFERS?

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos avoided setting a deadline for formal negotiations with Quebec and the other provinces on increasing health transfers.

He said he is in regular contact with the provincial and territorial health ministers.

"We are working on the actions we want to support together and the results we want to achieve. And there will be a discussion afterwards, even if they are already starting to take place, on the means we will need to use to achieve these results," he said.

The provinces and territories have been united for several years in calling for an increase in health transfers that would raise Ottawa's contribution from 22 to 35 per cent of costs. For Quebec, this would represent a $6 billion increase.