Now we’ve seen everything---Stephen Harper, who only a few years ago counseled Albertans to build “firewalls” around their province to protect it from Canada, has proclaimed himself the indispensable champion of national unity. Without him at the helm of a majority government, this one-time quasi-Alberta separatist would have us believe there will be no one to protect the country from a new round of sovereignist upheaval in Quebec.
In fact, I’d be surprised if Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois didn't regard a Harper majority government as one of the essential “winning conditions” for a sovereignty referendum should she succeed in becoming premier of Quebec in the next provincial election. The PQ is well ahead of Jean Charest’s hapless Liberals in the polls, but an election does not need to be called for two and a half years.
A Harper majority government would be the most English Canadian-centred majority government since the Unionist (mostly Conservative) government of 1917 that imposed conscription during the First World War. That government’s remoteness from Quebec inspired the introduction of the first ever resolution---it was never put to a vote---in the Quebec legislative assembly advocating the secession of the province from Canada.
Ever since the federal election of 1993 when the Reform Party and the Bloc Quebecois---heirs to the disintegrating Progressive Conservatives---won large swaths of seats in the House of Commons, a showdown between Alberta regionalism and Quebec nationalism has been in the making.
Reform leader Preston Manning---Harper was a Reform Party MP---saw the collision coming. Absurdly, he was fond of portraying himself as Canada’s Abraham Lincoln standing on guard against the “peculiar institution” of bilingualism.
The tradition of the Alberta right flows from the Social Credit through the Reform Party and the Canadian Alliance to Harper’s Conservative Party of Canada---not to be confused with John A. Macdonald’s Conservative Party, formally the Liberal Conservative Party. No political tradition is as alien from the social values and culture of Quebec as the political steam of which Harper is a part. Just as the old Reformers knew that they could not abide bilingualism and Quebec---this sentiment was one of the main reasons the Reformers broke away from the PCs---Quebec nationalists know that they have nothing in common with the current federal manifestation of the Alberta right.
Nothing would fire up the engines of the aging Quebec sovereignists more than a Harper majority. They would make the case that Harper’s Canada is remote from Quebec and everything the Quebecois aspire to.
That Harper took the lead in recognizing Quebec as a nation within Canada would make little difference to the Quebecois. Everyone knows that Harper’s motive was to head off Michael Ignatieff who promoted the idea during his failed bid for the Liberal Party leadership in 2006.
In the winter of 1980, when Parti Quebecois Premier Rene Levesque was launching the first Quebec sovereignty referendum, nothing upset his plans more that the resurrection of Pierre Trudeau through his electoral victory over Joe Clark’s short-lived PC minority government. Instead of facing Clark during the referendum campaign, Levesque had to do battle with Pierre Trudeau, a much more daunting proposition.
The truly hopeful development in Quebec during this election campaign has been the stunning rise in Jack Layton’s standing in the province.
For six federal election campaigns in a row, the Bloc Quebecois has been dominant in Quebec. Now the Quebecois are turning in huge numbers to the NDP, embracing a progressive federalist party that could give them a voice in governing the country. Layton’s breakthrough in Quebec has the potential to change the landscape of Canadian politics.
Harper’s boast that he alone can keep the country together is merely the latest demagogic claim he has made in his desperate bid for a majority.
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10 comments:
Why doesn't anyone remind voters than Harper's minority gov't is a coalition of the Reform, United Alternative, Canadian Alliance, and Progressive Conservative parties?
The way Harper has dealt with Québec and the Bloc over the years is an insult to anyone with a brain in or out of Québec. If we do avert a Conservative majority, the fact that it will be largely thanks to Québec should go some small way to healing the divisions that Harper has cultivated so assiduously for his own gain.
I’m waiting for Michael Ignatieff, when the NDP overtake the Liberals in the polls, to call on his supporters to do what the Liberals have so often demanded of NDP supporters, and put aside their own ambitions for the good of the country and stop Stephen Harper even if it means not voting for their first choice. Not holding my breath.
All true. Layton is our bright light of unity. Can MI and JL work together? They had better!
Harper looks more and more like, "The Great Hypocrite".
That is not a bad thing!
Before we rejoice at the decline of the Bloc, we should remember that they are sovereigntist in name only. They don't realize it, but they are really a source working for national unity. The Bloc makes Ottawa relevant to separatists. They have a team to cheer for in federal elections and a voice in the federal parliament.
Furthermore, because the Bloc has been very successful at representing Quebec's interests, they are demonstrating that Canada works. By legitimizing Ottawa and reducing alienation from it, they are actually doing a disservice to their cause.
A separatist movement that ignores Ottawa and views it as the illegitimate parliament of "Anglo Canada" is much more dangerous. The decline of the Bloc, a PQ government sweeping to power and a Harper majority are all part of the "winning conditions" for another referendum.
Bill, that’s an interesting analysis and I agree with a lot of it. I’ve also thought that the Bloc, in an odd way, was serving the cause of nationalism, by giving Québecers a voice in the national debate and keeping them engaged. I’m mindful, though, of the anger I hear in some quarters at the idea of a party whose stated goal is Québec’s separation from Canada figuring prominently in any post-election agreement between the opposition parties. Conservative supporters spin this for all it's worth, and not all voters have the sophistication to realize they’re being played by people with no more commitment to the country's integrity than the most ardent separatists.
The NDP is overtaking the Liberals now. If the Liberals want to take down Harper, they should stop calling on the left for support, when they've so frequently betrayed them, and start campaigning against Harper from the centre-right, where the competition counts most. They can start with their better record at balancing the budget for one --always a big issue on the right. If the federal Liberals are indeed serious about stopping the Conservatives that is and not the NDP.
Prof. James:
Two-and-half years are an eternity in politics. Harper is a decentralizer who would relish turning over jurisdiction to the provinces. He's shifty enough to be pragmatic because he hates big government, especially the federal govt. And he will use deficit reduction to diminish the federal govt. The only issue that rankles the provs so far has been the drive for a national securities regulator. Harper could kill that anytime. Layton is successful in Quebec in good part because he appeals to soft separatists. And he's wooing them with talk about doing away with the Clarity Act. Is Layton trying to lead the NDP/Bloc? He's no national leader.
Do you know what a soft separatist is, Anonymous? It’s a Québecer who never stopped being wounded by the fact that Canada was willing to repatriate the constitution even though a quarter of the population – a founding people at that – hadn’t signed off on it.
Since you mention the Clarity Act, I’d like to point out that Layton’s opponent here is a man on the record as saying, "I don't care if Canada becomes one country or ten."
Good article, James:) Actually, I like the BLOC and its leader. The BLOC should broaden its horizons and stretch its mandate. I think they should run nationally--to free us all from American domination, Toronto's reactionaries and BC/Alabertan (spelling intentional) environmental ruin. Harper has to be a drunk. No one sober could be so lacking in sentience and humanity. His wife always looks afraid of him. Iggy is American. Jack is sweet and very well-meaning, but Duceppes beats 'em all for class. He just needs to think outside the boite de PQ.
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