PM says Quebec's 'a nation within a united Canada'

[Roofus]

Quebec is a nation within a united Canada, but will never stand alone, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday.

Forced to wade into the debate thanks to a Bloc Qu?b?cois motion to declare Quebec a nation, Mr. Harper told Parliament that Quebec sovereignty proponents were intent on separation, but that would never come to pass.

"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.

"The real question is straightforward. Do Quebeckers form a nation within a united Canada? The answer is yes.

"Do Quebeckers form an independent nation from Canada? The answer is no, and it will always be no."

The Prime Minister's comments were effusively welcomed by the Conservatives, and even gained some applause from interim Liberal leader Bill Graham, who said the Bloc was "dedicated to destroying Canada".

But Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe was anything but supportive of the Prime Minister's position, which comes a day before a Bloc motion to recognize Quebec as a nation goes to debate in Parliament.

"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.

"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.

Calling Quebec a "masterpiece" of the country, Mr. Graham said the Liberals were fundamentally opposed to a motion that would divide Canada.

"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.

While he did not outline how the Liberals would vote on the Bloc motion to have the province deemed a nation, Mr. Graham said the party would "transcend partisanship".

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I don't have much insight into Canadian politics, but what's the general attitude towards Quebec in Canada?

[GratefulDead]

Shame.

lol...

Honestly though... let Duceppe and the stupid seperatists think what they will. Harper's simply responding to what the Liberals have ignored for years. He's trying to not step on any toes. The French are crazy, I tell ya..

[SuperMegatron]

We will have this problem with California in a few years.There are already separatists political groups there.

[butters]

This crap has been happening in Texas ever since it became a state. It's just a minority group speaking loud. Ignore them and they will go away.

[Roofus]

We will have this problem with California in a few years.There are already separatists political groups there.

This is the first I've heard of it. We've certainly got the resources and economy to do it, though I'm not sure we'd be able to defeat the US military. But with the war on, you never know....
<edit>Wait, there's La Raza. The nutballs who want to turn the whole Southwest into Aztl?n. Is that what you mean?</edit>


Actually, the only separatist group I'm aware of (if you could even call them "separatist" or indeed, a "group") is the people who want to divide California into two or even three states. The rationale behind it is that the north and south are so different in every conceivable way that they really are more like two different states.

[GratefulDead]

This crap has been happening in Texas ever since it became a state. It's just a minority group speaking loud. Ignore them and they will go away.

We're all crossing our fingers and toes, butters.

[Jeeba Jabba]

the only way I would understand striving for Quebec's independence is if the Canadian government were harsh on the french-speaking population, restricted their rights, or treated them any differently from the english-speaking population--which they don't.

the only difference in culture is the language. not religious beliefs, not way of life. canada isn't iraq.