OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is taking a big risk by choosing to directly confront the challenge of separatism in Quebec rather than try to skirt around it like so many of his predecessors.
The powerful French-speaking province and the desire of some Quebecers for independence has bedevilled Canadian politics for decades, with federal governments generally trying to take a soft line to persuade Quebec that its interests are best served inside Canada.
Harper astonished many on Wednesday by announcing he wanted the federal Parliament to vote on a motion that said Quebec was a nation inside Canada. He said it would always remain so.
Opponents charged this was a capitulation, which would encourage separatists to redouble their efforts. One unhappy legislator even talked of civil war.
But others said Harper's move would help kill off endless and divisive debates about the future of Quebec by making clear that while the province held a special place inside Canada, it would never be allowed to break away.
It would also help Conservatives supplant the opposition Liberals as the main federalist party in Quebec, which accounts for a quarter of the seats in Parliament, they argued.
“At one level, Harper is being very, very bold ... It's a mix of high statesmanship and crass political calculation,” said Professor Allen Mills of the University of Winnipeg.
Especially striking is the fact that Harper comes from Canada's West, where many people are upset about what they see as endless pandering to Quebec by Ottawa. He has in the past played down talk of Quebec being a nation.
The relationship between Quebec and the rest of Canada is an issue that never goes away. Separatist provincial governments held failed referendums on independence in 1980 and 1995, prompting the federal Parliament to declare the province is a distinct society inside Canada.
Canadians also remember bitter and long-drawn out debates on the Constitution some 15 years ago, when then Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney failed in his bid to persuade the provinces to recognize Quebec's unique status inside Canada.
Since then, the received political wisdom has been to leave the Constitution alone and stick to the status quo, however imperfect it might be. Several influential newspapers -- including some that are generally pro-Harper -- took a very dim view on Thursday of what Harper had done.
“It was utterly unnecessary for the prime minister to compound this problem by inviting Parliament to endorse this folly and take unwarranted risks with the future of the country,” said the Toronto Star in its lead editorial.
Harper made his proposal after the separatist Bloc Quebecois presented a motion asking Parliament to agree Quebecers were a nation --- a politically charged word.
Using the word “nation”, opponents argue, makes it easier for separatists to campaign for independence on the grounds that Parliament has already acknowledged Quebec is a nation.
“I've got calls last night from people that were from countries that have difficulties, like people from Sri Lanka -- Tamils and Sinhalese. And they're saying in those countries when you say the word 'nation' you end up having a civil war,”
Liberal legislator Jim Karygiannis told reporters on Thursday.
But most Liberals said they backed Harper, a development which helped boost the stature of a man whose party only controls 124 seats in the 308-seat House of Commons.
“This creates the first real opening for federalists in Quebec for a long time ... and I think there's a responsibility for the parties to put partisanship aside and put Canada first,” said leading Liberal Scott Brison.
For Harper, the short-term benefits could be rich in Quebec, where the Liberals have been the party of choice for francophone Quebecers who want more rights for their province but oppose outright separation.
A federal election is widely expected to be held in the first half of 2007. Whether the federal government can keep a lid on expectations in Quebec after that is another matter.
“For Canadians it's probably OK because if you say 'Quebec is a nation' maybe that can be the end of it. But for Quebecers it's the other way round -- it's just the beginning of the conversation,” said Antonia Maioni, director of Montreal's McGill Institute for the Study of Canada.
Harper's change in stance might cost him in Western Canada, where the Conservatives draw some of their strength from people unhappy with what they see as preferential treatment for Quebec.
“The federal Liberals don't have to worry about being outflanked in terms of what I would call the reactionary anti-French vote in English Canada. That's up for grabs by all the federalist parties now, rather than being clearly in the Conservatives' corner,” Mills told Reuters.—Reuters
