Quebec Premier Says Accepting More Non-French Speaking Migrants Would Be 'Suicidal' For Province

The number of temporary migrant workers in Quebec has increased significantly over the last five years and currently stand at more than 30,000.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault has warned of far-reaching consequences from raising immigration levels in the mainly French-speaking Canadian province.

“Since we can’t stop the decline of French, I think that a lot of the Quebec nation wants to protect the French language, it’s a bit suicidal to increase [the number of migrants],” Legault, tipped to be re­­-elected next week, said at an event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Montreal on Wednesday.

The remarks came after Legault apologized earlier this month for citing the threat of "extremism" and "violence" as well as the need to preserve Quebec's way of life as reasons to limit the number of immigrants to the province.

In a separate statement at the time, the Quebec premier argued that non-French speaking immigration, if not limited in number, could pose a threat to social cohesion in the province.

Pollsters meanwhile say that Legault’s Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) political party will secure a second consecutive majority as time is already ticking for the October 3 provincial election in Canada.

The 65­-year-old swept the CAQ to power for the first time in 2018 with promises to cut immigration and preserve the French language in an English-dominated North America.

The CAQ wants Quebec to be more selective when filling its current migrant quota, while also motivating individuals to work in areas where labor shortages are most acute. The party pledged to reduce immigration to 50,000 from the current target of 70,000 over the next four years.