Quebec Premier François Legault says his Coalition Avenir Québec party will no longer accept donations, amid mounting allegations that mayors were pushed to pay for access to cabinet ministers.

Instead, Legault said Thursday his party will rely exclusively on government funding, and he called on other parties to do the same, warning he may change Quebec’s party financing rules if the opposition doesn’t follow his lead.

The announcement comes after members of the CAQ were accused of selling access to ministers by encouraging mayors around the province to pay $100 — the maximum individual donations permitted in Quebec — to attend party fundraising events. The Canadian Press reported earlier this week that almost half of Quebec’s mayors have contributed almost $100,000 to the CAQ’s coffers since the 2021 municipal election.

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Enjeu royal

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Last night’s election in Quebec, while sadly no surprise, is yet another argument that our First Past the Post electoral system is broken.

The party with 41% of the popular vote gets 72% of the seats in the National Assembly. Meanwhile, the four main opposition parties are all within a few points of each other, yet their seat count is wildly different from each other.

Interestingly, the CAQ campaigned in 2018 on electoral reform, which they quickly abandoned as soon as they realized how much it advantages them.

So another four years of nativist, paternalistic, immigrant bashing for Quebec because that seems to be Legault’s winning formula.

Grieving parents said they were told to pay $200 to meet Quebec minister

The Conservative Party of Quebec 🇨🇦⚜️ (CPQ; French: Parti conservateur du Québec (PCQ)) is a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It was authorized on 25 March 2009 by the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec.[2] The CPQ has gradually run more candidates in successive elections, with 27 in the 2012 general election and 125 (all seats contested) in 2022. The party has not won a seat in the National Assembly of Quebec; however, under leader Éric Duhaime the CPQ won about 12.9% of the popular vote in the 2022 election, a major increase from prior elections. Previously on June 18, 2021 Claire Samson crossed the floor to join the party after having won election in 2018 as a candidate of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).

"Unveiling the Momentous Upset: A Surprising Victory for Parti Québécois in Jean Talon, Quebec-Montreal!"

In a surprising turn of events, lawyer Pascal Paradis, the Parti Québécois (PQ) candidate, emerged victorious in Monday’s by-election in the Quebec City riding of Jean-Talon, successfully defeating the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) and securing the seat for the PQ. This victory marked the first time that a PQ candidate had ever been elected in Jean-Talon, a riding that had long been considered a…

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Coalition Avenir Québec - Wikipedia

Greetings Emmanuel Macron Alain Berset Xi Jinping Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud Ines Chaieb,

People in Quebec fight for Independence all the time. I am asking for a switch to Quebec Nationalism.

Regards,

Adrian Blake-Trotman

Quebec’s ‘green’ zeal likely to push Trudeau government’s climate policies

Newly released internal federal government polling shows that voters in Quebec are much keener to see the federal government do more to fight climate change and that climate change is a bigger problem than inflation or lowering gas prices.

And because of the electoral volatility of many seats in Quebec, any party that wishes to form government in Ottawa--including the incumbent Liberals--must account for the extraordinary zeal Quebecers have for green policies. The political implication for the Trudeau Liberals, who hold 35 of the province’s 78 seats in the House of Commons, is that Quebec is in a position to have an outsize influence on national climate, energy, and environmental policies.

I try to explain to people here that it’s the reason (the Liberals) take into account Quebec more than, let’s say, Alberta, said Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary. It’s not just the seat count. It’s that Quebecers change parties. It’s a four-party system. The Bloc Quebecois is second to the Liberals with 32 seats; the Conservatives have nine; the NDP has one; and there is one independent.

Every party that holds seats in the National Assembly in Quebec, including the governing Coalition Avenir Quebec, agrees on the priority of climate action and the environment. They may argue over the pace of that action and some details.

Unlike in English Canada, few climate skeptics are given much airtime in the Quebec media. One reason: most Quebecers now see their reputation as the country’s premiere green province as a crucial part of their identity, one of the things that differentiate Quebec culture and society from others.

I think Quebec nationalism, in a way, now sees itself as being green, or that the idea that Quebec is greener than other provinces has now become part of said Daniel Béland, a political science professor and director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada in Montreal. There’s a strong consensus among Quebec politicians, too, over the environment.

Experts also say the structure of Quebec’s economy, the dominance of clean hydroelectric power, and the near absence of any fossil fuel industry have contributed to Quebec’s commitment to climate action.

You wonder if Alberta were a hydro province and Quebec was a fossil fuel province if those attitudes would be diametrically opposite, said Bratt. The same is true in British Columbia, where there is a significant divide between Vancouver Island, Greater Vancouver, and Interior B.C. What is striking is that we don’t see that gap in Quebec.

Indeed, in many smaller cities and rural areas in Quebec--from Abitibi to the Mauricie to the Saguenay--the Bloc Québocois has flourished. The BQ has a much more aggressive climate action platform than the Liberals.

The Liberals are approaching the environment in Quebec knowing that it affects Quebeckers on average more than people in other provinces, said Béland. The Liberals have to compete with the Bloc in Quebec. And the Bloc is quite green.

Indeed, BQ MPs often attack the Trudeau Liberals in the House of Commons for being beholden to the energy sector in Western Canada. So the question the parties have is about expanding their base, said Bratt.

Quebec’s unique-in-the-country attitudes on climate change and the environmental sense of being green were unearthed in a series of polls conducted by the Privy Council Office through the late spring and summer of 2022--polling data just recently released to Global News as a result of a federal access to information request.

The PCO conducts weekly live-agent polls of all Canadians on a range of issues, and in its Aug. 14 survey, it asked respondents if the government should focus more or less on climate change. Counting just the responses from outside Quebec, 48 percent said more, and 25 percent said less. But for Quebec only, a whopping 71 percent said Ottawa should focus more on climate change, and just 7.4 percent said Ottawa should.

The PCO poll also asked whether the priority should be lowering gas prices or combating climate change. Of the rest of Canada, 54 percent picked reducing gas prices, but in Quebec, 60 percent are fighting climate change.

If climate change or inflation should be a higher priority for Ottawa, the pattern held again. While 41 percent of respondents outside Quebec chose inflation compared to 25 percent who chose climate change, among respondents in Quebec, a clear majority, or 56 percent, picked climate change while 30 percent picked inflation.

During its polling for the week ending July 10 and again for the week ending July 17, respondents were asked if they “support or oppose (the) national price on carbon pollution,” known more commonly as the carbon tax. In the rest of Canada, 40 percent favored it, and 32 percent were opposed. But in Quebec, 62 percent support carbon pricing, while 21 percent oppose it.

The polling data obtained by Global News is “raw data” and does not contain explanations about potential margins of error. That said, the data provided does not always indicate the quality of the sample in all instances. For that carbon tax question, though, 1,520 people in the rest of Canada were asked that question over the two weeks, while 380 Quebecers were sampled in that period.

Eléctions Québec confirmed it is investigating the governing Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) party over a $200 donation made by the parents of a woman killed in a 2017 car crash.

Élections Québec spokesperson Julie St-Arnaud-Drolet said Monday that information made public suggests the donation was given in exchange for something, which is against the law.

“Public information leads us to believe that the two contributions were made in exchange for consideration, thus making these contributions non-compliant,” a statement from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer reads in French.

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Quebec has Released its Immigration Strategy for 2023

Overall admissions remain unchanged from 2022, with little variation across all categories.

According to the Quebec Immigration Plan for 2023, which was released on December 8, the province could admit up to 52,500 new permanent residents in 2023. This goal is identical to the immigration plan for 2022.

In 2023, the majority of new admissions to Quebec will be through the province’s economic immigration programmes, such as the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) and the Québec Experience Program (PEQ).

The new plan adheres to the goals established during the public consultation held in the summer of 2019 as part of Quebec Immigration Planning for 2020-2022.

The economic category, with a maximum target of 33,900, represents the largest proportion of newcomers, accounting for more than 65% of planned admissions. The province anticipates welcoming up to 29,500 skilled workers in this category.

The remaining 18,100 new permanent residents are anticipated to come through various immigration programmes for refugees, family reunification, and other categories.

The Immigration Department of Quebec presents its immigration strategy each year. The document specifies the categories in which the province will admit the amount of new permanent residents it plans to accept in the upcoming year. Plans have only been made public thus far that include goals for the upcoming year. However, a consultation will be held in 2023 after which the province will draught a multi-year plan that will start in 2024.

Attention to French-Speaking Immigrants

The 2023 plan is similar to the 2022 plan because the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) won a second term as the governing party with a large majority earlier this year.

After lowering admission targets in 2019, the 2022 plan, led by current Prime Minister François Legault, aimed to gradually increase the number of newcomers. The CAQ implemented a 20% reduction that year in order to improve the selection and francization of newcomers to Quebec.

The protection of the French language in Quebec is one of the CAQ party’s main pillars, and the new plan focuses on selecting immigrants who already speak French. The Ministry of Immigration, Francization, and Integration anticipates that 79% of economic immigrants and 66% of all immigrants will be fluent in French by 2023.

During this year’s provincial election in Quebec, immigration was a hotly debated topic. Legault pledged during his campaign that he would only allow 50,000 newcomers into Quebec per year for the duration of his term. He claims that this is the maximum number of immigrants that Quebec can accept because it is difficult to integrate newcomers into Quebec society, especially those who need to learn French.

Quebec’s Distinctive Immigration Policy

The only province in Canada that publishes a yearly strategy for immigration levels is Quebec. Additionally, it is the only province whose admissions for economic immigration are completely under its control.

Quebec has greater control over its immigration policies, largely as a result of the establishment of its own immigration ministry there in 1968. Up until more than 20 years later, in 1991, when the Quebec-Canada Accord gave the province the authority to set its own admission targets, the province persisted in calling for greater control over immigration.

Nevertheless, immigration is a joint duty between the federal and provincial governments, and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has the last say on all admissions, regardless of the category of immigration. Quebec chooses the skilled workers it wants to admit.

Ways to Move to Quebec

Anyone wishing to immigrate to Quebec must obtain permission from both the provincial and federal governments. Quebec chooses skilled immigrants based on its own criteria and procedures, and applicants must apply directly to the province via one of its immigration programmes.

If a candidate meets the program’s criteria and is chosen by Quebec, they and any accompanying family members will receive a Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ). This document was issued by the Quebec Ministry of Immigration, Francisation, and Integration.

After receiving a CSQ, a candidate must apply to IRCC for permanent residence and pass the required security, criminal history, and medical checks.

Quebec adopts law making oath to King optional for elected members

Quebec adopts law making oath to King optional for elected members

Quebec’s legislature has passed a law putting an end to the requirement that members swear an oath to the King. The Coalition Avenir Québec government had tabled a bill on Tuesday making the oath to the monarch optional after three members of the opposition Parti Québécois refused to swear the oath and were barred from sitting. The law adds a section to the Constitution Act of 1867, exempting…

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Number of immigrants welcomed in Quebec | Official numbers don't tell the whole story

Number of immigrants welcomed in Quebec | Official numbers don’t tell the whole story

While we are tearing ourselves apart over whether we should welcome more or less than 50,000 immigrants a year, a threshold that the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) does not want to exceed, Quebec actually welcomes almost twice as many. A total of 90,900 people from other countries settled in Quebec from 1er July 2021 to June 30, 2022. The difference is temporary immigrants, people who came to…

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Quebec desires to finish politicians obligatory oath to King Charles By Reuters

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Quebec is able to introduce laws that will cease requiring elected officers to swear an oath to Britain’s King Charles within the largely French-speaking Canadian province’s nationwide meeting, a authorities official stated on Wednesday. Britain colonized Canada starting within the late 1500s, ultimately defeating French colonists who had largely settled in Quebec. Canada remained a part of the British empire till 1982. Now it’s a member of the Commonwealth, made up largely of former empire international locations which have or had the British monarch as head of state. Simon Jolin-Barrette, parliamentary chief of the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) authorities, stated they’re able to introduce a invoice that will finish the requirement, which critics name outdated. The oath might as an alternative be elective, a authorities spokesperson stated. “I feel Quebecers are behind us,” Jolin-Barrette advised reporters in Quebec Metropolis. “We are able to do that rapidly collectively.” On Tuesday, the speaker of Quebec’s Nationwide Meeting stated that every one elected members should swear an oath to King Charles and never simply to Quebecers with the intention to carry out their duties. Charles, 73, routinely turned king of the UK and the pinnacle of state of 14 different realms, together with Canada, when his mom, Queen Elizabeth, died on Sept. 8. Elected members of two political events that advocate independence from Canada for Quebec, have stated they’d not take the oath. “Perjuring myself in my first act as an elected official and swearing allegeance to a international colonial empire that brought about hurt to Quebec, I discover that repugnant,” stated Parti Quebecois (PQ) chief Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in an announcement. He stated his occasion had raised a number of doable options with the CAQ, however didn’t deal with the proposed invoice. The opposite occasion, Quebec Solidaire, was not instantly accessible for remark. Quebec’s Nationwide Meeting is about to renew in late November following an October election the place the centre-right CAQ gained a sweeping majority. Originally published at Irvine News HQ

Landlords could cancel rental lease transfers under new Quebec bill

The parliamentary leader of the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government said they are ready to introduce a bill that would end the requirement, which critics call outdated.