The politicization of immigration at the sub-national level: Election discourse in Quebec and Ontario

Abstract:

Immigration has long been at the core of political and public agendas in many European countries (see, for example, Barrero 2003; Krzyzanowski 2018; Ruzza, 2009; Meyer and Rosenberg 2015). While scholars have documented some periods of increased political discussion over immigration in Canada (Abu-Laban 1998), others have highlighted the overall lack of political debate on topics such as multiculturalism policies among Canadian political parties (Ambrose and Mudde 2015). Hence, the politicization of immigration-related topics in Canada appears more moderate relative to European counterparts. But what about political debates about immigration in Canadian provinces? Even if some Canadian provinces are holding increasing levels of power over immigration, less is known about the politicization of this topic at the provincial level. Is immigration a politicized topic? If so, how can we explain the politicization of immigration-related topics and how is immigration framed in political discourse? This paper uses discourse analysis to examine the development of immigration politicization in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec during election periods in order to better understand if and how immigration is being politicized at the subnational level and how this fits within broader Canadian trends on immigration politicization.

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