I'll take a stab at that.
The Quebec-Canada accord is not the same as the other provincial nomination programs. In terms of how it deals with the other provinces, the federal government can pretty much impose whatever kind of restrictions or limits it wants within the provincial nomination system. Quebec has an agreement with Canada, and that agreement, as I see it, will not be changed, with Bill C-50 with regard to the speeding up of applications, holding applications for later consideration, or returning applications.
However, when in Bill C-50 there is mention of the fact that only applicants inside Canada have the right to apply for residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, that clearly affects people in Quebec. I'll give you an example.
Let's say you have a Canadian permanent resident residing in Quebec, a single mother who works outside of Canada, and she gives birth while outside Canada and wants to sponsor her child and bring that child back to Canada. It's by use of the humanitarian and compassionate application on behalf of the child outside of Canada that this type of situation has been addressed.
As Mr. Creates said, it doesn't come up often. But when it does, when somebody is desperate, and whether that person is in Quebec or in British Columbia, when that person is outside Canada or has a connection with somebody who is from Quebec or British Columbia, clearly we should not be cutting back on and taking away that right. In that sense, people in Quebec are affected just like people in any other province.
