MONTREAL — Quebec's premier says he wants to find new powers to boost his province's autonomy within Canada, but experts are keeping their expectations in check.
MONTREAL — Quebec's premier says he wants to find new powers to boost his province's autonomy within Canada, but experts are keeping their expectations in check.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed the move as a political response to the rise in popularity of the sovereigntist Parti Québécois, which has been leading in provincial polls since the fall. Breton said some of the issues the committee has been instructed to study are “more political than anything,” including federal spending in areas of provincial policy.
The announcement of the new committee came ahead of Monday's meeting between Trudeau and Legault to discuss immigration. Legault says the 560,000 temporary immigrants in the province are putting an enormous strain on housing and health care. He has demanded Quebec be given full power over immigration — at one point threatening a referendum on the issue — and the new autonomy committee has been instructed to study that demand.
Béland said in an interview that Legault has struggled to increase Quebec’s powers, including over immigration. “He’s been accused by the opposition parties of failing in that regard,” he said. “This is a reflection of the fact that François Legault needs to please the nationalist base and needs to show that he really can defend Quebec."
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