Quebec’s five leaders will speak tonight, with immigration as the central theme.
This Wednesday, September 9, from 8 to 10 p.m., Radio-Canada will broadcast live from Quebec City a meeting with the five party leaders competing in the October 5 election. It’s not the cross-party debate—that will take place on the 23rd in Montreal—but rather a series of interviews where each candidate will have to specify what they would do if elected. And in this campaign, specifying means discussing how many immigrants Quebec wants to receive.
Who participates and in what format?
Sitting are Christine Fréchette, from the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ); Charles Milliard, of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ); Ruba Ghazal, from Québec Solidaire (QS); Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, of the Parti Québécois (PQ); and Éric Duhaime, of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ). Hosts Sébastien Bovet, Anne-Marie Dussault and Alec Castonguay take turns interviewing them one by one.
The format matters. Without the possibility of hiding behind a five-way discussion, each leader is forced to explain their own figures.
How far apart are they in terms of immigration?
Far from it, and that’s the novelty of this campaign. The current official plan of the Quebec government anticipates admitting between 43,000 and 47,000 permanent residents in 2026, with a target of around 45,000 per year, and by 2029 it sets limits of 65,000 temporary foreign workers and 110,000 international students.
Based on that, the CAQ proposes maintaining the current course. The PQ of St-Pierre Plamondon wants to lower the number of permanent residents to 35,000 and cut temporary immigration in half. Québec Solidaire went in the opposite direction: on September 1st, it proposed raising the threshold to 70,000 permanent residents per year, double the amount proposed by the PQ.
Between those two figures, 35,000 and 70,000, lies a good part of the future of the families who today are waiting for a provincial selection to stay.
How do they get to the microphone?
With a stagnant campaign. The Pallas Data poll, conducted between September 5 and 7 with 1,100 adults surveyed, places the PQ in the lead with 29%, followed by the CAQ with 24%, the PLQ with 20%, the PCQ with 15%, and QS with 11%. No party made significant gains that week.
The PQ also arrives amid controversy surrounding its comments on school overcrowding, which its rivals criticized for singling out students of immigrant origin. And the PLQ has been protesting the electoral documents that Élections Québec sends only in French, an issue that directly affects those who are not yet fluent in the language.
Why it’s worth watching even if you don’t vote
Many Hispanics living in Montreal, Laval, or Quebec City don’t yet have citizenship and won’t be able to vote on October 5th. It doesn’t matter: whoever wins will decide how many provincial elections are held, what happens with temporary work permits, and how immigrant families are discussed publicly for the next four years. Tonight, each leader will announce their numbers aloud. It’s the cheapest way to know what’s coming.
Editorial Staff Mauricio Navas Talero LJI Reporter
