Remember This Idiot ?

On July 24, 1967, French President Charles de Gaulle caused a political uproar in Montreal by saying,

"Vive le Québec libre"

De Gaulle was one of many world leaders invited to Expo 67 to help celebrate Canada's 100th birthday. Prime Minister Lester Pearson was outraged by the comment and issued an official rebuke saying, "Canadians do not need to be liberated." De Gaulle cut his trip short and returned to France.

They are at it again

The Liberals are in a bind. Their Quebec wing wants them to endorse a resolution at next month's leadership convention that effectively commits the party to reopen the Constitution and declare that province a nation.
If the party agrees - and, in particular, if it chooses a leader that agrees (read Michael Ignatieff) - it may well get so-called federalist Quebecers on side in the general election that is expected next year.
But what it could gain in Quebec it risks losing in Ontario. In this province, constitutional reform - or indeed anything that bears the slightest resemblance to constitutional reform - is a non-starter. That is our history.
Two Ontario governments that put their credibility on the line to win constitutional changes favourable to Quebec were decimated at the polls. David Peterson's Liberals were defeated in 1990, in large part because Ontarians simply didn't like the Meech Lake constitutional accord the then-premier had spent so much time trying to forge.
Bob Rae's New Democratic Party suffered the same fate five years later. While Rae's government went down for a host of reasons, most of which had nothing to do with the Constitution, his crafting of the so-called Charlottetown accord certainly did not help.

Read the rest in The Toronto Star.

From The Toronto Globe:

Harper refuses to be drawn into Quebec nation debate
Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused Friday to say whether he considers Quebec to be a nation, determined to avoid being sucked into the same semantic quagmire that threatens to swallow the Liberal party.

Mr. Harper danced around the politically explosive issue, being careful not to reject the idea while not endorsing it either.

He said he respects the fact that Quebec's National Assembly has adopted a resolution recognizing the province as a nation. And, while he said he doesn't think it's up to the federal government to define the province, he added: 
"I can consider whatever suggestion is brought forward."

Pressed by reporters following a speech in Oakville, Ont., to clarify his position, Mr. Harper said: "I did not take a stand. I said this is a debate on semantics."

The debate over Quebec's identity has consumed the federal Liberal leadership race for the last week, prompted by a resolution adopted by Quebec wing of the opposition party last weekend.

The resolution, which will be debated at the Liberal's national leadership convention at the end of next month, recognizes Quebec as a nation within Canada and calls on the party to establish an expert task force to advise on the best way to "officialize" that status.

Front-runner Michael Ignatieff is the only leadership hopeful to wholeheartedly endorse the resolution. His rival candidates have expressed varying degrees of discomfort, with some fearing the resolution could spark an ugly debate that will split the party and ruin its electoral prospects in Quebec.

Mr. Harper, who is hoping to revive his own electoral prospects in the province, doesn't want to get caught in the same trap.

Former Quebec premier Bernard Landry tried to goad him into it Friday, writing in La Presse that the Conservative prime minister should take inspiration from Mr. Ignatieff's example.

But Mr. Harper refused to rise to the former separatist leader's bait.

"The real question is are we in favour of a united Canada, yes or no? We are in favour of a united Canada. Mr. Landry wants to divide Canada and that's why the Parti Quebecois and the Bloc Quebecois want to change the subject because the public doesn't share their objective," Mr. Harper said.

"I believe fundamentally Quebec is a part of Canada. Quebec is an indispensable part of this country and that's the position we stand for."

Bob Rae, Ignatieff's chief rival, said Landry's embrace of the idea should give all federalists pause in their zeal to recognize Quebec nationhood.

"We have to reflect on how this debate can become twisted and turned by people whose objective is the complete opposite of our own," Mr. Rae said in an interview.

"Mr. Landry is somebody who wants to break up the country. So why would you follow his agenda?"

Mr. Rae did a little dancing of his own over the Quebec wing's resolution. While it's important for federalists to show openness to Quebec's aspirations and to "demystify" the word nation, Mr. Rae said the party must also be clear that it doesn't intend to enshrine recognition of Quebec's uniqueness in the Constitution anytime soon.

According to insiders Mr. Rae's camp is trying to build a consensus among other camps to amend the wording of the resolution to clarify that it wouldn't mean opening the Constitution.

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They're Tring To Break Up Canada Again Still

Remember This Idiot ?

"Vive le Québec libre"

They are at it again