Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge called for an end to Canadian multiculturalism, saying it’s time for the social model to be placed in the “dustbin of history.”
“Multiculturalism no longer applies on Quebec soil, finally!” said Roberge in Quebec’s National Assembly on Wednesday.
His comments follow the province’s passage of Bill 84, which mandates that newcomers adhere to the province’s values, presenting it as an alternative to Canada’s multiculturalism model.
Québec Solidaire and the provincial Liberal party opposed the bill.
The Quebec legislature requires immigrants to embrace the common culture of the province. Among the values listed in the legislation are the protection of the French language, gender equality and secularism.
Roberge opposes multiculturalism, which he believes results in the state allowing newcomers to retain their culture and language of origin, rather than adopting Quebec’s.
“That’s Canadian multiculturalism. We live alongside one another,” he said, adding that those immigrating to Quebec will find that they are “arriving in a state with its own model of integration.”
Roberge said newcomers must accept Quebec’s social contract; “Otherwise, well, it’s not a good idea to come here.”
“I can’t say how they (immigrants) will react. We are changing the contract; we are changing the way we explain our way of life here. Maybe some people who never thought about living in Quebec will say, ‘Wow, I want to go there; I want to go to Quebec because it reflects my values,’” Roberge told reporters following the vote.
“Some people may say the exact opposite, that this doesn’t fit with me. Do I really want to come to Quebec? I have no intention of learning French, I have no interest in learning about a distinct culture. We’ll see.”
The legislation known as An Act respecting integration into the Québec nation is the province’s answer to the national model, which it claims hurts social cohesion and lays the groundwork for civil unrest.
The new law will allow Quebec to withhold funding for certain groups and events that it perceives do not uphold the province’s common culture.
There are also additional details that still need to be finalized to fully define the minister’s model. However, he expects it to be implemented before the provincial election next year. An evaluation report of the new model is scheduled for release in five years.
However, critics of Bill 84 say it’s an attempt to assimilate newcomers and will rouse the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Quebec and throughout the country.
“This is not an assimilationist bill because we say Quebec’s culture is our common culture; we are proud of that, and we want people to adhere,” Roberge said. “But we want them to contribute. This word is very important. We want newcomers, everyone in Quebec, to contribute.”
“We don’t want to just assimilate them and forget who they are. We want them to bring something new. This is a huge part of what it is to be a Quebecer. Quebecers are open-minded.”
After Bill 84 was adopted, Roberge presented a separate motion stating Quebec possesses its own model of national integration that favours cohesion and “opposes isolationism and communitarianism,” which was adopted unanimously.