Political party vying in Quebec election promises to kick out immigrants who fail ‘values test’, by Amanda Coletta.

Days before a provincial election in Quebec, a center-right party promising to slash immigration and to kick out all immigrants who fail tests of “values” and the French language is in a dead heat with the incumbent Liberals who have governed the province for most of the past 15 years. …

This year’s contest will be the first in nearly six decades where the “national question” – whether French-speaking Quebec should separate from the rest of Canada – is not a campaign issue. But those bitter independence battles have morphed into acrimonious fights over immigration and perceived threats to Quebec’s francophone identity. …

In 2014, the ruling Parti Quebecois failed to pass a “Charter of Values,” which would have banned the wearing or display of “conspicuous” religious symbols, such as turbans and hijabs, in the public service, though thousands of crosses were “grandfathered” in. It lost the election to the Liberals who opposed the charter.

But then the Liberals waded into similar territory when they passed a law banning face coverings for those receiving public services in 2017.

Cultural battles in Quebec have long been very fierce and forthright.

The background to this is that due to immigration the French-speaking European-background Quebecois are losing population share, and on current trends will become a minority in 2035.

hat-tip Stephen Neil