Well, that wasn’t awkward at all, I guess. I must say, I didn’t expect this:
Quebec is a nation within a united Canada, but will never stand alone, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday.
This is being heralded as some sort of compromise when, in fact, all Harper has done is taken the BQ motion and clarified that it refers to Quebec being a nation in Canada as supposed to…I dunno…Denmark?
As a result, everyone is left looking like an idiot.
Harper
“Quebeckers … know they’ve participated in the founding of Canada and its development and in its greatness. They know that they’ve protected their language and unique culture, but they’ve also promoted their values and interests within Canada,” Mr. Harper said.
By tying language to this, Harper is giving the va te faire foutre to Anglophone, Allophone, and aboriginal Quebecers (but, then again, they all vote Liberal anyways). He also looks like he’s selling out his principles to score a few seats in Quebec which I’m sure will go over well with his base.
Graham
“How could we ever support a motion on Quebec by a party that has zero commitment to Canada, which is blind to the greatness available for Quebeckers within Canada, a country in which they are at home from coast to coast to coast because we have sought to make them at home, because it is their home,” Mr. Graham said.
So, in other words, we didn’t like the Bloc calling Quebec a nation but if the Tories want to do that, we’re cool with it? WHAAAAAAA?
Duceppe
“It isn’t up to the Prime Minister to decide what Quebeckers will choose as an option. It’s up to Quebeckers,” Mr. Duceppe said.
“The refusal to recognize the Quebec nation, the refusal to acknowledge an obvious reality, is something that we could call a blockage in Canada.
Excusez-moi? How is calling Quebec “a nation within Canada” a refusal to acknowledge that Quebec is a nation?
Tories, Grits, and NDP
Harper said the Bloc’s intent is clear: it’s not about Quebec as a nation, he said. “It’s about separation. For them, ‘nation’ means ‘separation.”’
The opposition Liberals and NDP declared their support for Harper’s motion, for the sake of a united Canada.
Let me be clear. Harper says calling Quebec a “nation” will make separatists think it means Quebec should separate. So…we’re going to call Quebec a nation. Uh-huh. The Dippers and Grits feel that this is perfectly logical so they’ll pat Harper on his back.
Pro-Nation Crowd
The argument they gave was that this would be a great way to make Quebecers give up their dreams of sovereignty and would not necessitate any (new) special powers…
“Never will I accept that the only condition to be a nation is to recognize the right to remain in Canada.”
Having Ottawa officially recognize a Quebec nation should be more than a symbolic gesture, Mr. Duceppe said. It is the most fundamental question facing Quebec, and it was also a fundamental issue for Canada as a whole, he said.
Anti-Nation Liberals
It sounds like several Liberals, including Mr. Dion, who opposed the motion from the Quebec wing are ready to support this one. If they do, it would be a massive revirement.
So, in short, everyone ends up looking like an imbécile. And, as a consequence, Michael Ignatieff looks less ridiculous in comparison. So he and Jean Charest are probably the only winners in this sorry, sorry spectacle we should not have had to go through.
UPDATE: OK, OK, maybe Iggy doesn’t come across looking so clean on this. The Star story implies he’s now taking credit for taking us into this mess which he has been trying to stress over the past few days he had nothing to do with:
Ignatieff himself took credit for getting the ball rolling on recognition of Quebec as a nation.