“All Canadian provinces are obviously distinct from one another. But with its difference in language, Quebec is different in a fundamental way which requires specific attention … Other multilingual democracies, like Switzerland and Belgium, have these kinds of arrangements. They give the minority language community the ability to feel secure and to make a more positive contribution to the country” — Liberal environment minister Stéphane Dion, 1996 (then the Liberal intergovernmental affairs minister)
Prime Minister Paul Martin mocked Conservative Party of Canada leader Stephen Harper in the House of Commons for lacking a “made-in-Canada” solution and wanting “to do it with the both of them (the Bloc and the ADQ) in a bed and breakfast in Brussels”.
Instead of “kick-start[ing] some national discussion” on the topic, looks like we’ll stick to partisan hackery.
Then again, perhaps Harper is guilty too of playing politics with the Liberals by drawing them out with veiled Liberal quotes and by hitting them back before the news cycle comes full circle.
Or has Stephen Harper learned that Canadian politics is all about Quebec?