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Quebec Premier François Legault said on Thursday he does not believe his government’s deregulation of the province’s taxi industry will hurt immigrants who are working in it.

Legault was responding to criticism from Québec Solidaire’s Andrés Fontecilla, who accused the government of making life more difficult for immigrant families when it should be helping them to integrate.

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“Taxis in Quebec are driven principally by immigrants,” Fontecilla told reporters. “The premier keeps saying … that we should be taking fewer but better care of immigrants. Plunging families into uncertainty, is that how you take care of people?”

Under Bill 17, tabled Wednesday in the National Assembly, all drivers working in the traditional taxi industry or its ride-sharing equivalents would be required to meet the same professional norms.

The province will also provide $500 million in compensation to taxi drivers for the loss of value on their permits, a move that has not been greeted well by the industry, which claims the government is under the sway of Uber lobbyists.