Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: Canada isn’t meeting its targets in the fight against climate change. Canada isn’t meeting its target for the number of francophone immigrants entering the country. We’re all aware of the public service’s lack of efficiency in processing immigration files and, while we’re at it, the files of migrants arriving at Roxham Road.

As the Minister of Immigration is increasing Quebec’s proportional share of immigrants from 50,000 to 113,000, can you tell us how your government can dispute and deny the concerns of Quebec’s premier regarding the threat this represents to the French language?

I hope you won’t tell me that there’s money allocated for that.

Hon. Jean-Guy Dagenais: My question is for the government leader, who certainly won’t dare question my preamble, as I’ll be quoting figures from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC.

To counter the current housing crisis, the CMHC estimates that Canada will need 3,5 million new housing units by 2030; that is staggering. Quebec will need 1.3 million new housing units by 2030 to establish some sort of normalcy.

The CMHC states that 84% of immigrants entering Canada begin as renters, and it’s clear to everyone that the majority of immigrants choose to settle in big cities such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

When the Minister of Immigration, Mr. Fraser, says he wants to increase the number of immigrants that Canada will welcome by 2025 to 500,000, can you tell us what he saw in his crystal ball as options for housing all these newcomers, when Canadians are already having a tough time finding a suitable place to live at a reasonable price for their family?

Will the minister’s lack of compassion force newcomers to stay in a hotel for 12 to 18 months at the taxpayer’s expense?