François in Paris: How the Quebec premier kicked off an asylum firestorm from a summit in France
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller appeared stunned by Legault’s remarks this week
by Antoine Trépanier · National PostOTTAWA — The trip was initially about the Francophonie summit.
A few days before the international conference in France, Quebec Premier François Legault went to Paris to discuss the province’s relations with its “cousin français.” The French language was on the menu, as was immigration.
On Wednesday, Legault told reporters that the Canadian government should act decisively to respond to his repeated requests to reduce the number of asylum seekers in the province. Quebec maintains that of the 285,000 asylum claimants who arrived in Canada last year, 160,000 were in Quebec. And the premier wants half of them to go elsewhere.