Marois lambastes Charest over letter on tolerance

Parti Québécois Leader Pauline Marois is accusing Premier Jean Charest of trying to "demonize" her with accusations that she is poisoning the debate on the accommodation of immigrants in Quebec.

Charest published an open letter in several of the province's newspapers Tuesday in which he lambasted Marois and ADQ Leader Mario Dumont for "fanning the flames" of intolerance and playing with Quebec's international reputation.

The premier takes issue with Marois' contentious legislation, tabled in mid-October, that ties Quebec citizenship to proficiency in French.

Charest calls on Marois to abandon the PQ's bill 195— but on Tuesday she defiantly defended the legislation once again, urging members of the legislature to debate the proposed law in the national assembly.

"I am not intolerant. I think I am someone who is a democratic person, and I want to have this debate, in the right place."

Dumont said the open letter demonstrates Charest's lack of leadership, and criticized the premier for not leading the charge to fight and preserve basic values of French-speaking Quebecers.

"At those precise moments, it was expected that the [premier] of Quebec would stand up, defend our common values, and Jean Charest was unable to do that," he said.

The open letter suggests the Quebec Liberal minority government is feeling besieged by low poll numbers and poor public opinion, Dumont said.

Charest calls for reason, respect in debate

In his open letter, Charest wrote he is worried thatthe tone of the debate over "reasonable accommodation" is hurting Quebec's reputation as a tolerant society.

The debate about immigrant accommodation and assimilation should not be minimized, but it should proceed with respect and reason, the Liberal leader wrote.

The PQ's legislation to create an exclusive Quebec citizenship is antithetical to Québécois values, and Charest says he doubts that even party founder René Lévesque, "a great democrat," would have approved creating two classes of citizens.

Charest also reproaches Dumont for having encouraged old-stock Quebecers to stand up for themselves last winter when the debate about reasonable accommodation was simmering over frosted windows at a YMCA in Montreal.

The premier also questions Dumont's contention that Quebec has taken in enough immigrants— a fallacious statement, according to the premier, given the shortage of skilled workers and low birth rate in the province.

Charest outlines how his government has contributed to the debate about Quebec identity and immigrants by setting up a provincial commission that is travelling Quebec to hear from ordinary people about their thoughts on cultural accommodation.

The Bouchard-Taylor commission hearings have so far painted an uncomfortable portrait of some Quebecers who believe immigrants and different cultural and religious beliefs are threatening their way of life.

Charest said Quebec's identity will never flourish in fear of the other or through promoting intolerance.

Unions reserved about PQ citizenship bill

The PQ's traditional union allies have added their voices to those criticizing the party's proposed citizenship legislation.

The Quebec Federation of Labour (FTQ), which officially supported the PQ in the last Quebec election, has asked Marois to amend bill 195 in order to allow Canadians from other provinces to run for office even if they aren't perfectly bilingual.

Canadians shouldn't be treated the same way as newly arrived immigrants, said FTQ president Henri Massé.

"What bothers me in that bill is that we round up everyone in the rest of Canada, and we put them in the same category [as immigrants], and that creates difficulties that are important to consider," he said in French at a new conference in Montreal on Tuesday.

The PQ may have good intentions but the legislation needs some reworking, Massé said.

The Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN) also expressed reservations about the citizenship bill, despite saying it contains interesting ideas.

CSN president Claudette Carbonneau said the legislation amounts to making immigrants pay for Quebec's ambivalence about sovereignty.

"I have reservations about making others pay for our indecision as a Quebec society," she said in French at the same news conference.

If Quebec was sovereign, it could impose mastery of its common language as a criterion for citizenship.

But Quebec is not independent, so the legislation doesn't stand, and the PQ should "eventually consider amendments," Carbonneau said.