The Premier of Quebec, François Legault, expressed his surprise that Canada had decided to deny permission for a visit to the country by exiled Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, which was to include a visit to the National Assembly of Quebec. Puigdemont had been invited to the country by Maxime Laporte, president of leading Quebec cultural organization the Société Saint-Jean-Batiste de Montreal (SSJB). However, the Canadian authorities revoked the travel permission he had been granted just one day before the scheduled departure date.
For this reason, Legault told media, he intends to ask Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau for an explanation of the country's veto of Carles Puigdemont. "I don't understand the federal government's decision. I'm baffled. I would like Justin Trudeau's government to explain its decision," he said. "At present it appears that it shouldn't be rejected," he added.
So far, the Canadian government has given no explanation for annulling the travel permission it had previously granted to the Catalan pro-independence politician. Lawyer Gonzalo Boye in conjunction with Canadian attorney Stéphane Handfield is preparing an appeal to be presented to the Canadian courts.
On October 4th, 2017, the Quebec National Assembly unanimously passed a motion deploring "the authoritarian attitude of the Spanish government that caused acts of violence during the referendum on the independence of Catalonia."
Carles Puigdemont, the president who led Catalonia to the 2017 independence referendum and its subsequent declaration of independence, has been in exile in Belgium since October 2017. Attempts by Spain to seek his extradition failed after a German court rejected the rebellion charge that Spanish justice had laid against him, and he is now free in Europe, and only wanted in the Kingdom of Spain.