Senator Loffreda: Thank you for your answer. I trust that our entrepreneurs are happy with this decision. I hope that is also the case among francophone entrepreneurs outside Quebec, who will soon have a larger pool of francophone candidates thanks to your new francophone immigration targets, which will be increased from 6% to 8% by 2026. The vitality of our francophone community depends on it.

How do you explain the decision to stop at 8% when some organizations were calling for a target of 12%?

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Leader, polls predicting the Prime Minister’s defeat in the next election may have been the wake-up call that prompted him to reverse course on a number of things, including the carbon tax and immigration. Canada has cut ties with Russia, China and even India, and now the United States is threatening harsh reprisals if the government goes ahead with its plan to slap a “discriminatory” tax on foreign streaming services come January 1.

Given that the new Liberal tax will surely be passed on to taxpayers, is the Prime Minister prepared to admit his mistake and reverse course on this as he has on other issues before it’s too late?

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question. We all know that Canada’s population is aging, and that immigration is now driving most of our population growth and labour force stability. It is concerning that the worker-to-retiree ratio of 7 to 1 from 50 years ago has dropped to 3 to 1 now. While I cannot speak to the specific consultations, the new immigration levels have taken this reality into consideration and will permit the government to bring in the skills and talent needed to fill labour gaps and to ensure our ongoing prosperity.

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