La nation québécoise vue du Canada

When wooing Quebec, all roads lead to Meech

Some people may not agree that Quebec is a 'nation,' or that it is the only one in Canada

The blackmail has already begun. On the weekend, the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal party passed a resolution calling for Quebec to be recognized as a nation within Canada. Not a "distinct society" -- a nation. "A veritable revolution in the federalist philosophy of Pierre Trudeau's heirs," André Pratte wrote in La Presse. But he warned, "every audacity carries a risk." The resolution of the Quebec wing w...

Can we back-burner the nation thing?


Here's the problem that Michael Ignatieff has created: The mere thought of what he is proposing makes most of us feel sick, even though we know he's right. Over the past few weeks, Mr. Ignatieff's campaign proposal to constitutionally recognize Quebec as a nation has grown to become The Thing: the single issue that could determine the outcome of the Liberal leadership race and, if Mr. Ignatieff wins that race,...

Un mélange empoisonné


En combinant congrès d'orientation et course au leadership, le Parti libéral du Canada espérait faire d'une pierre deux coups: moderniser son programme tout en renouvelant sa direction. Aujourd'hui, la décision revient le hanter. Si le parti n'avait pas jumelé deux exercices périlleux en un seul, il ne se serait pas «enfargé» dans le débat sur la reconnaissance de la nation québécoise. Dans des circonstances plus ...

Liberals risking a Quebec crisis


Canada has been down this road before, and it is a bumpy one. Liberal leadership aspirant Michael Ignatieff wants the Constitution to recognize Quebec as a "nation," in the civic and sociological sense at least. So does the Quebec wing of the federal party, which voted 10 days ago to recognize "the Quebec nation within Canada," and to "officialize this historical and social reality." Delegates to the Liberal l...

Revue de presse

Frapper un mur


Le Québec, une nation? L'idée d'en faire une résolution du Parti libéral du Canada ne passe pas la rampe au Canada anglais. C'est qu'en général, le terme «nation» y est automatiquement associé au concept d'État-nation, à celui de pays ou encore aux pires travers du nationalisme, comme s'il ne pouvait prendre que les contours de l'ethnocentrisme ou de la xénophobie. Mais il y a aussi la résurgence de cette peur de ...

The inherent dangers in recognizing Quebec as a nation


Pierre Trudeau, back in 1962, got it right: "It is not the concept of nation that is retrograde; it is the idea that the nation must necessarily be sovereign." So it is today with last Saturday's resolution adopted by the Liberal Party of Canada's Quebec wing. It is not the fact that "the Liberal Party of Canada recognizes the Quebec nation within Canada" that is dangerous. Rather, as Mr. Trudeau understood, you ...

Le PLC dans un beau pétrin


En rouvrant cette boîte de Pandore, les libéraux font en sorte que le Québec se sente de nouveau " rejeté ", avec les conséquences que l'on sait. Les souverainistes se réjouissent à la perspective de voir la répétition d'une saga à la Meech, et cela se comprend fort bien. Ce qui ne se comprend pas, c'est que les libéraux fassent aussi bêtement le jeu de leurs adversaires.

The Quebec quagmire


When Michael Ignatieff announced his candidacy for leadership of the Liberal party, critics wondered how voters could take seriously a politician who'd been out of Canada for three decades. In response to such fears, the Harvard professor surrounded himself with some of Ottawa's most astute political advisors -- men and woman who would fill him in on local stories the Boston Globe might have consigned to the back ...

Ignatieff's Quebec tactic divides party


Éditorial - The Edmonton Journal - Michael Ignatieff's decision to recognize Quebec as "a nation within Canada" may well have been a shrewd tactic in his bid to win the federal Liberal leadership, but it's a lousy strategy for the Liberal party. It raises expectations in Quebec, and risks putting the country on a course that might lead to a constitutional showdown. During a meeting of t...

Even Ignatieff supporters have mixed views over his Quebec 'nation' idea


par Joan Bryden, Canadian Press Not even supporters of Liberal leadership frontrunner Michael Ignatieff agree what his proposal to recognize Quebec as a nation would mean. Reaction is all over the map: some Ignatieff supporters express outright opposition, some cautiously endorse it, and others enthusiastically welcome it as a first step toward recognizing every province as a nation. Their conflicting views...

Here we go again, placating Quebec


Marx had it wrong: It's the second time that's the tragedy. Or perhaps history goes on repeating itself, farce, tragedy, farce, in infinite regress. At any rate, we are shortly to smash ourselves on the same rocks we have so often visited before. One of these times we may not survive the encounter. There was no necessity for Michael Ignatieff to promise to recognize Quebec as a "nation" in the Constitution, n...

Échec interdit


On ne peut plus le contester. Le candidat au leadership libéral Michael Ignatieff a confirmé son avantage lors de la rencontre de la section québécoise du Parti libéral du Canada (PLC-Q) en fin de semaine. Même s'il n'était pas le parrain officiel de la résolution portant sur la «reconnaissance de la nation québécoise au sein du Canada», elle portait son empreinte puisque c'est lui qui a relancé la réflexion sur c...

The definition of a nation

Recognizing Quebec as a 'nation' is not to be feared : the rise of a 'nation state' within Canada certainly is

Par Gar Pardy Looking for ideas in the context of a political party leadership race is akin to looking for elephants in spruce trees. Experience shows that neither is likely to happen. It was thus a surprise when Michael Ignatieff a month ago declared that the "future of Canada includes the recognition of Quebec and aboriginals as nations in our Constitution." Apart from in Quebec, the reaction among the country...

Reopening a constitutional can of worms


It is an illusion to believe that constitutional reform, and the recognition of Quebec as a nation, could ensure a federalist victory if there were another referendum on sovereignty. Michael Ignatieff, one of the leading contenders in the race for the Liberal leadership, made a dangerous error of judgment when he promised to reopen this Pandora's Box. The process of reforming the Constitution to accommodate Quebec w...

Ignatieff hits a nerve in Quebec


With his recent call to resume efforts to find constitutional accommodation with Quebec, Michael Ignatieff has predictably sparked more outrage than support for his bid for the Liberal leadership, at least outside Quebec. But in the province, his position has attracted some high-profile endorsements. The weekend before last, Marc Garneau, the Liberal star candidate in Quebec in the last federal election, rallie...

It's divisive to talk of Quebec nationhood


Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff proposes that the "national status" of Quebec eventually be enshrined in the Constitution. Two serious rivals, Bob Rae and Stéphane Dion, disagree. How would Canadians respond? The short answer is differently, depending on where they live. In Quebec, constitutional recognition as a "nation" would be popular, outside Quebec very unpopular. It's a recipe for divisio...

Ignatieff's risky Quebec gambit


"Quebecers have come to understand themselves as a nation," Michael Ignatieff writes in his Liberal leadership campaign platform, Agenda for Nation Building. So why not rewrite the Constitution to recognize Quebec as a nation within the fabric of Canada? Quebecers should be able to say: "Quebec is my nation, but Canada is my country," Ignatieff declared during Sunday's leadership debate in Quebec city. And he w...

Don't heed Sirens' song


In Homer's The Odyssey, brave Ulysses tested the Sirens, sea monsters whose beautiful singing lured sailors to their deaths. He had his crew block their ears, and they tied him to a mast so he could hear the enchanting song. The ship survived, though Ulysses nearly went mad. A modern-day Liberal Ulysses has found himself attracted to Canada's constitutional Siren song. Michael Ignatieff is willing to reopen...

Ignatieff: Liberal saviour or sorcerer?


Quebec City - Between now and their November convention, the federal Liberals will have to decide whether Michael Ignatieff is the best thing that could happen to their party in Quebec or the most reckless apprentice sorcerer on the national scene. Now that Ignatieff has used the Quebec Liberal leadership debate to firm up his promise to enshrine Quebec's status as a nation in the Constitution, there is little mi...

Le Québec, une nation


Nous publions ici un extrait du document Bâtir notre nation rendu public mercredi par Michael Ignatieff candidat à la direction du Parti libéral du Canada. Dans une fédération forte, toutes les provinces doivent être égales, bien que toutes les provinces ne soient pas pareilles. Chacune s'est jointe à notre fédération avec sa propre histoire qui doit être reconnue. Le Québec, en particulier, a une hi...

No new powers for Quebec, Ignatieff says

More tax authority for provinces would damage capacity to bind nation

Par Clark Campbell TORONTO -- Quebec does not need any more powers and Ottawa should not damage its capacity to bind the nation together by handing over tax powers to the provinces, Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff said yesterday. Although his new platform states that Quebec should be recognized as a "nation," as should aboriginal nations, in a Canada that is a "multinational state," Mr. Ignatief...

Ignatieff not apologizing for remarks on Quebec


MISSISSAUGA -- Michael Ignatieff's campaign director said yesterday his candidate is candid and direct and is changing the way politics is done in this country. Ian Davey acknowledged the Ignatieff team must be "doing well" after his candidate's comments to a newspaper about wanting to "avoid civil war" in Quebec provoked criticism yesterday not only from Liberals but from the Harper Conservatives, who were se...

Embracing the nation in Quebec

There is a way to reconcile both ethnic and civic nationalism, says ANDREW STARK, and the next Liberal leader must do it

Andrew Stark Michael Ignatieff enjoys a well-deserved global reputation as a writer and thinker on the topic of nationalism. One of his contributions has been to distinguish between two kinds of nationalism: ethnic nationalism, the racially tinged nationalism of blood, tribe, and roots, which he criticizes, and "civic nationalism," which Mr. Ignatieff says is open to anyone "regardless of race, colour . . . or ethni...

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