Quebec Premier François Legault is not telling voters which party he wants to see win the federal election, opting instead to call on all leaders to cut temporary immigration and protect key sectors of the province’s economy.
It’s a change of strategy. Ahead of the last election in 2021, Legault said the Liberals and the NDP were “dangerous” and strongly suggested he wanted the Conservatives to win a minority government.
The premier told reporters Thursday that he hopes all three major parties respond to his demands on two main issues: Quebec’s identity and prosperity.
He said he wants leaders to commit to reducing the number of temporary immigrants in the province to 200,000 from the current 400,000. Federal leaders, he added, must also promise to protect major Quebec industries, like aerospace, and invest more in infrastructure.
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“I want to defend the interest of Quebecers. It’s what I’ve always done and what I always will do,” Legault said in Quebec City. “And I hope that all the federal leaders — including the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada — accept our demands.”
Legault singled out Liberal Leader Mark Carney because his party has yet to say whether it will grant Quebec more authority to select temporary immigrants — a power the provincial government says it needs to preserve the Québécois culture and language.
At a rally on Wednesday evening in the Quebec City area, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre announced he would grant the province more power to select immigrants from the International Mobility Program — which allows employers to hire temporary workers without having to submit a labour market impact assessment.
Legault called that pledge “a major move in the right direction” and said he hopes the other party leaders do the same. Poilievre also promised to work with Legault to cut by half the number of temporary immigrants, including asylum seekers, in Quebec.
In the 2021 federal election campaign, Legault said the NDP and the Liberals were bad for Quebec because their policies, including national standards for health care, infringed on provincial jurisdiction. And he left little doubt about who was his favourite: then-Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, whose party lost to the Liberals.
Reporters tried to get Legault to reveal his preferred outcome for the election Thursday but he would not take the bait.
And on the subject of Donald Trump, Legault was asked what qualities a prime minister needs to stand up to the U.S. president.
“To be a good negotiator,” Legault replied, “and don’t ask me who is the best.”
Legault made no mention of the other party leaders: the NDP’s Jagmeet Singh, the Bloc Québécois’ Yves-François Blanchet, or the Green Party’s co-leaders Jonathan Pedneault and Elizabeth May.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
