OTTAWA – The premier of Quebec, François Legault, has asked the federal government to create “waiting zones” for asylum seekers, as in France: Canada, according to him, should draw inspiration from the European country and the “waiting zones” could be located near airports or in other parts of the territory. 

The premier of Quebec has been asking the federal government for months to redistribute would-be refugees across Canada. According to him, in fact, Quebec hosts 45% of the country’s asylum seekers, despite representing only 22% of the population. “Can we think about having ‘waiting zones’ in other provinces?” he said.

In France, people arriving by ship, train or plane can be placed in a “holding zone” at the border for up to 26 days if they seek asylum, are refused entry or are denied boarding in the country of origin.

However, the Quebec premier’s proposal did not please the federal Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, who accused Legault of using immigration for political goals. “I think he’s desperately trying to keep the public’s attention on the immigration issue” Miller said, adding that he “has no idea what exactly Quebec is asking for”.

Quebec’s former immigration minister, Christine Fréchette, had in fact already sent a letter to Miller and the federal minister of intergovernmental affairs Dominic LeBlanc on July 22, outlining the proposal and suggesting “creating a safe transition site” for detain asylum seekers before they are moved around Canada. “We believe it is essential that the federal government quickly establish and operate this transitional infrastructure across Canada” she wrote, noting that “several countries, which are parties to the same international conventions as Canada, have established such sites” including France.

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticized Legault for his stance on immigration in front of French President Emmanuel Macron, who was visiting Canada. Trudeau accused Legault of spreading falsehoods and delaying the rollout of a plan to reduce the number of asylum seekers brought to the province.

In reaction, Tuesday, Legault defended himself against the charge of inaction, saying he will introduce a bill this week to set a maximum number of international students Quebec will accept. There are currently 120,000 such students in the province. Legault also said an analysis of the impact the proposed student cap will have on schools is still underway, adding that the maximum number of foreign students per school has yet to be determined. “So we act on the part we control” he said. Legault reiterated that Quebec only has control over 180,000 of the 600,000 temporary immigrants in the province, including 60,000 economic-related immigrations and 120,000 international students.

Trudeau in turn insisted that Ottawa has taken numerous measures to reduce the number of non-permanent residents in the country, including reintroducing visas for Mexican travelers and adding entry criteria for temporary foreign workers. But, evidently, that’s not enough for Quebec.

In the pic above: Quebec Premier Francois Legault with French President Emmanuel Macron during their meeting, in recent days (photo from Twitter X – @FranceQC)