So I have been following the news about Harper's speech to Parliament regarding the status of Quebec in Canada. I must say that I was astounded. Harper said what needed to be said. He gave the smackdown to the Bloc and he did it in a way that made him seem almost Priministerial.
For some time I have agreed that Quebec is a distinct society. I really don't see that there is a question of this. But I have always felt that they were still a part of Canada. The separatists are inherently wrong-headed.
Harper aside, this is an important step in putting the separatists in their place. I have felt that the support for true separation was much lower than the 49% shown during the last referendum for separation. I believe that the "true believers" are more around the 10% number (maybe less). The average supporter of the separatists are actually just those who are looking for some sort of separate status. A recognition of Quebec's distinct society within Canada.
Perhaps I am naive in this but I am not so sure.
What do you think about this motion? What do you think about the fact that it is Harper who is saying it?
I haven't even touched on the slippery slope of the erosion of Federal powers that this could lead to... what are your thoughts on that?
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Stephen Harper
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the Bloc Québécois will present the House with an unusual request that we here at the federal Parliament define the Québécois nation.
As a consequence, with the support of the government and with the support of our party, I will be putting on the Notice Paper later today the following motion. ... That this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada. ...
Once again, the leader of the Bloc and his separatist friends are not concerned with defining who Quebecers are but rather what they want them to become, a separate country.
The separatists do not need the Parliament of Canada to define what is meant by the sociological termination.
My preference has been well known. I believe that this is not the job of the federal Parliament. It is the job of the legislature of Quebec, but the Bloc Québécois has asked us to define this and perhaps that is a good thing, because it reminds us that all Canadians have a say in the future of this country.
Having been asked by the Bloc to define the Québécois, we must take a position.
Our position is clear. Do the Québécois form a nation within Canada? The answer is yes.
Do the Québécois form an independent nation? The answer is no, and the answer will always be no, because Quebecers of all political persuasions, from Cartier and Laurier to Mulroney and Trudeau, have led this country, and millions like them of all political persuasions have helped to build it.
With their English- and French-speaking fellow citizens, and people drawn from all nationalities of this earth, they have been part of making this country what it is, the greatest country in the world.
To millions more who live in a dangerous and dividing world, this country is a shining example of the harmony and unity to which all peoples are capable and to which all humanity should aspire.
I say to my federalist colleagues and I also say to the separatist side that we here will do what we must, what our forefathers have always done to preserve this country, Canada, strong, united, independent and free.
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