Excuse me if I speak English, but my French is not very good.
There is no limitation on the instructions. They don't exempt provincial agreements. They don't exempt provincial nominees. There's nothing in the wording of this legislation that would preclude the minister from issuing an instruction to say, at some point in the future, if she got into a dispute with the Quebec immigration minister, not to process Quebec applications. There's nothing in the legislation that precludes this. It might lead to a constitutional problem. It might lead to a challenge in the issuance of the instruction, but the instructions are not restricted in what they can and cannot do in that way. There could be an instruction issued that would say not to process any provincial nominees. There could be an instruction that would say to put provincial nominees at the back of the file because they want people with confirmed job offers. Or an instruction could be given not to process provincial nominees from Quebec or Manitoba, because they're in a dispute over something or other.
My reading, and I don't know if Ms. Jackman agrees, is that there's no restriction. If you're concerned as a Quebecker about the potential impact of this power on the power of Quebec to select immigrants, you have very good reason to be concerned.
I apologize, Mr. Chair, I have to go to another committee meeting.
