{"id":24652,"date":"2014-03-12T09:55:24","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T14:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=24652"},"modified":"2014-03-12T10:08:51","modified_gmt":"2014-03-12T15:08:51","slug":"quebec-federalist-leader-calls-for-more-concessions-to-quebec-of-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2014\/03\/12\/quebec-federalist-leader-calls-for-more-concessions-to-quebec-of-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec federalist leader calls for more concessions to Quebec (of course)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s apparently come to the attention of even soi disant<\/em> federalists in Quebec that the rest of Canada is still taking advantage of Quebec and that concessions will be needed to begin to make amends for all our exploitation of that downtrodden province<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The leader of federalist forces in the Quebec election says Canadians from coast to coast should be prepared to make concessions to the province if there is any hope dealing once and for all with the recurring threats to national unity.<\/p>\n

With an ascendant Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois seeking re-election and speaking bullishly about a new push for independence, angst outside of the province\u2019s borders is noticeably higher in this election than in previous campaigns since the failed 1995 referendum on sovereignty.<\/p>\n

The surprise candidacy for the PQ of multi-millionaire media titan Pierre Karl P\u00e9ladeau, majority shareholder of Quebecor and the Sun<\/em> newspaper chain, has only ratcheted up that tension, a rare across-the-board endorsement in an open letter signed by leading sovereigntists, including former PQ leaders Jacques Parizeau and Bernard Landry as well as ex-Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois leader Gilles Duceppe.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Couillard raised the spectre of a new push for a constitutional amendment that would recognized Quebec as a \u201cdistinct\u201d society in Canada. This after two failed attempts at Meech Lake in 1987 and Charlottetown in 1992 and the refusal of former PQ premier Ren\u00e9 Levesque to sign the repatriated Canadian Constitution in 1982.<\/p>\n

The federal government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused the idea of re-opening the Constitution to introduce an elected Senate or to set term limits for Senators. The federal Conservative leader has said repeatedly there is no willingness in the country for another heart-wrenching round of talks that, if they fail, could breathe new life into the grievances of those who want an independent Quebec.<\/p>\n

Harper contented himself with passing a 2006 motion in the House of Commons that recognized \u201cthe Quebecois as a nation within a united Canada,\u201d but it carries no specific obligations or responsibilities of Ottawa and affords no new powers to the province.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Update<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\n

So, the usual debate: federalists who use the threat of separation to rewrite federalism, vs separatists who claim it would *be* federalism.<\/p>\n

— Andrew Coyne (@acoyne) March 12, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n