Quebec premier says Ottawa should forcibly relocate half of asylum seekers

First François Legault says the federal government should force asylum seekers arriving in Quebec to move to other provinces, including people already established in the province.

Legault said during a trip to Paris on Wednesday that he wants half of the asylum seekers currently in Quebec to be transferred elsewhere in the country.

The prime minister says it doesn’t make sense that Quebec welcomes about 45 percent of potential refugees to Canada, when it only represents 22 percent of the population.

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The federal government says it wants a more equitable distribution of asylum seekers across the country, but the office of Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Ottawa will not force provinces to welcome more people.

Ottawa offers financial incentives to provinces that want to help and threatens to reduce the number of economic immigrants for provinces that resist.

Legault said Tuesday that his government had asked Ottawa to create waiting areas for asylum seekers entering the country, as is the case in France.