Premier Legault and his Coalition Action Quebec (CAQ) stand poised to win a second majority term in power Monday .. and one of the ways they did it was by pushing xenophobia, bigotry and promising to curb immigration.
Like other provinces, the prime issues for Quebec voters surrounded the cost of living, health care, child care, education and the environment.
But, unlike other provinces, language, Francophone culture … and dislike, distrust of other races, beliefs and immigrants also raised its ugly head … repeatedly.
At a recent all-candidates meeting outside Montreal, here is what the Toronto Star and Montreal’s Le Devoir newspapers reported:
“A candidate for the sovereigntist Parti Québécois, Lyne Jubinville, was exposed by Montreal’s Le Devoir and forced to apologize for anti-Islam rants about “hijabs” that “increasingly invade our public space,” and about mosques and Muslim calls to prayer taking the place of emptied Catholic churches and silenced church bells.”
What crap! Appealing to prejudice and xenophobia.
But the PQ are, after all, separatists …who know immigrants aren’t buying into their sovereigntist message. You would think that those in power, in the CAQ government would shy away from sentiments like that.
Mais non!
“It was followed by a hook from Jean Boulet, Heurtel’s successor as immigration minister, who belongs to the governing centre-right party Coalition Avenir Québec. In a clip from a local election debate held a week prior, he appeared to write off newcomers to Quebec as good-for-nothings,” The Star added.
“Eighty per cent of immigrants go to Montreal, don’t work, don’t speak French or don’t accept the values of Quebec society,” he said in the debate.”
That from, of all people, Quebec’s Immigration Minister!
Yech!! I don’t know whether we should laugh or cry! Probably both.
Meanwhile, Legault, embarrassed by Boulet’s comments, said he would not be re-appointed as Immigration Minister after the election. Ya think???
BUT then … perhaps realizing many voters like/agreed with Boulet, Legault promised if CAQ gets re-elected he would introduce even “tougher French-language requirements for immigrants.”
That will help win the CAQ votes, especially in rural Quebec, and will likely drive more immigrants … and hard-working job-fillers … to Ontario, Alberta and BC.
You can read the entire Star story here: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/10/02/suspicion-about-immigrants-persists-in-quebec-campaign.html.
And it’s not just Quebec voters or other Canadians who are watching.
“It would be “a bit suicidal” to take in more newcomers given the decline of French, Legault — whose party is leading in the polls ahead of Monday’s provincial election — argued again this week,” the Japan Times reported Sunday.
And they gave Quebec’s immigration and identify issues fairly big coverage: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/10/02/world/politics-diplomacy-world/quebec-politics-immigration/.
It’s embarrassing for not just Quebec … but Canada too.
And Legault’s remarks and government record have also strained relations with Quebec’s Indigenous communities. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/caq-indigenous-relations-1.6599571.
But let’s keep it real: in Quebec, these positions WIN votes with the majority, giving truth to the old expression: “Quebec n’est pas un province comme les autres.” (Quebec is not a province like the others.)
C’est vrai! (It’s true!)
And I’m thankful WE, in the rest of Canada, ARE different!
Harv Oberfeld
(Follow @harveyoberfeld on Twitter for FREE First Alerts to all new postings on this BC Blog.)