PM Accused of insulting Quebec
Refusal to call province a nation draws ire of Bloc, PQ, but PMO stands by comments
Steven Chase and Andre Picard
Globe and Mail
Ottawa and Montreal - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's refusal to call Quebec a nation has given political rivals a weapon they've been seeking to chip away at Conservative fortunes in the hotly contested province. Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe accused Mr. Harper of insulting Quebeckers. "If I went to Ottawa next Friday, on the eve of July 1, and I refused to recognize the existence of the Canadian nation, that would be an enormous scandal, and rightfully so," he said.
Mr. Harper was drawn into the debate about Quebec's nationhood during a Quebec City trip on the eve of the province's politically charged St. Jean Baptiste Day holiday.
He was asked by local reporters whether he considered Quebec a nation -- a question the Parti Québécois and Bloc Québécois had challenged him to answer.
Mr. Harper dodged the query, saying he respects the Quebec legislature's declaration that Quebec is a nation, but felt Ottawa has no need to enter the debate. "I don't know, quite frankly, what its legal significance is," he said, adding later that "it just seems to me to be a semantic debate that doesn't serve any purpose."
The comments were pounced upon by the Bloc, which has been looking for a wedge issue that hurts the Tories ever since the separatist party lost ground to the Conservatives in the Jan. 23 election.
The Tories are hunting more seats in Quebec by promising to rectify the so-called fiscal imbalance of wealth between Ottawa and the provinces, cleaning up federal politics and giving Quebec City a bigger voice on the international stage.
The Bloc's provincial allies, the Parti Québécois, said Mr. Harper's comments show he's ignorant of Quebec culture and history. "I'm disappointed to see that Mr. Harper is incapable of looking Quebeckers in the eyes and recognizing who they really are," PQ Leader André Boisclair said this weekend.
While he wasn't criticizing Mr. Harper, Quebec Premier Jean Charest, a federalist, left no doubt about where he stood.
"As Premier of Quebec I want to say loud and clear that we form a nation," he said at Montreal City Hall on Saturday. "The fact that we are a people and a nation doesn't contradict in any way the fact that we are also Canadian citizens."
The Prime Minister's Office said Mr. Harper's comments stand. "I can tell you that Quebeckers know who they are, they don't need us to tell them," said Sandra Buckler, spokeswoman for Mr. Harper. "What they want is to be respected, and that is exactly what our Conservative government is doing. Mr. Boisclair is panicking because Quebeckers don't want another referendum due to our approach of a federalism of openness."
New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton, in Quebec for St. Jean Baptiste Day on Saturday, said he's disappointed that Mr. Harper can't call Quebeckers a nation, in part because he thinks it would help assuage separatist feelings. "It's not a hard or challenging observation to make and it corresponds to historical realities."
Political analysts said Mr. Harper has little to gain by publicly declaring that Quebec is a nation because it risks angering his base in Western Canada, or even rock-ribbed federalists inside Quebec.
"Engaging a national debate on Quebec's role in Canada is a no-win for Stephen Harper outside of the province of Quebec," said Allan Gregg, pollster and chair of the Strategic Counsel.
Mr. Harper should have expected the question would arise when he staged a cabinet retreat in Quebec's capital city the day before the province's national holiday, said Peter Donolo, the Strategic Counsel's executive vice-president.
"He was clearly trying [to] exploit symbolism, so he shouldn't be too surprised when the symbolism comes around and smacks him in the head," Mr. Donolo said.
The Tories boosted their Quebec electoral support to 25 per cent in the 2006 election, from 9 per cent in 2004. An early June Strategic Counsel poll indicated Conservative support had held steady since Jan. 23.
