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I think many Canadians, not just Québécois, feel that policies like Bill 21 will be a positive force for social integration of immigrants, just as Bill 101, the 1977 Charter of the French Language, equally contested, ensured that immigrants to Quebec became successfully integrated linguistically. Progressives should resist the facile reflex to label it “Islamophobic,” even though extreme distaste for face cover in Quebec — and the forthrightness to say so, unlike in the rest of Canada, where it is viewed with almost as much distaste — was the spark 11 years ago that got this whole ball rolling.

Bill 9 was also passed in the wee hours of Sunday morning. This law reforms Quebec’s immigration system over which, uniquely amongst the provinces, the province has near-autonomous control. New selection criteria will more efficiently match immigrants with employment needs, as opposed to the first-come system of the past.

Photo by GEOFF ROBINS/AFP/Getty Images

Controversially, the law will condition permanent-residency eligibility on immigrants passing a language and “values test.” The change will pre-emptively cancel out 18,000 immigration applications, jeopardizing the fate of about 50,000 immigrants already in the processing queue, and they will have to start over under the new rubrics. That last part seems pretty indefensible ethically. But in principle, the idea of prioritizing immigrants who offer immediate economic and cultural value to Quebec makes sense and accords with the wishes of most Quebec voters.