(Reuters) French presidential hopeful Laurent Wauquiez has caused an outcry in France, including within his own conservative camp, for suggesting sending migrants awaiting deportation to the remote island of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off Canada’s coast.
Wauquiez is one of a crowded group of possible contenders for the conservative ticket in the next presidential election in 2027, with many of them competing to take the hardest line on immigration to catch up with the far-right National Rally.
The proposal from Wauquiez, the head of the Republicans party in the lower house, made in a front-page interview with JDNews magazine, has caused consternation in France, including from the government his party supports and from within his camp.
