In a public address ahead of Fête Nationale celebrations, Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters multiculturalism is a threat to the French language and Quebec culture..“It’s important that we don’t put all cultures on the same level. That’s why we oppose multiculturalism,” Legault told reporters, Thursday, as reported by the Montreal Gazette. .“We prefer to concentrate on what we call 'interculturalism,' where we have one culture, the Quebec culture, and we try to integrate newcomers. I think new people coming to Quebec add to our culture, but it’s important to have culture where we integrate, especially to our language.”.Legault said his vision of integration differs from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's and believes Quebec culture should be respected and newcomers should be expected to "integrate." .“We see that Mr. Trudeau is pushing for multiculturalism, so he doesn’t want us to have a culture and a language where we integrate newcomers,” Legault said. “It’s important that our nation and our culture be respected and that we try to integrate new immigrants to that culture.”.Legault has been seeking more powers over immigration from Ottawa and told 1,200 Coalition Avenir Québec delegates at a May convention it's a "question of survival" and said he hopes for "a strong mandate" from Quebecers in the fall provincial election in order to seek more power over the province's immigration. .“I am convinced a majority of Quebecers agree that the federal government should transfer these powers to the government of Quebec,” Legault said..“That is why I will ask Quebecers in the next election for a strong mandate to go and negotiate with the federal government. It’s a question of survival for our nation.”.The premier was in Montreal on Thursday to announce the $50-million conversion project of the historic Bibliothèque St-Sulpice into a space dedicated to celebrating Quebec music. .His comments come on the heels of a speech in France by Quebec's French-language minister, Simon Jolin-Barrette, who said protection of the French language and nation-building is under threat by multiculturalism.
