Shutout

The Liberal leadership campaign has raised the dreaded spectre of Quebec's status within Canada yet again and may reopen constitutional debates and the possibility of another referendum. While most leadership candidates are cool to the idea of changing Quebec's relationship with Canada, Michael Ignatieff has championed the idea of calling Quebec a nation within a state; he is now backed up by the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal Party. This builds on Stephen Harper's recent moves to give Quebec a bigger role on the world stage. Both the Liberals and Conservatives are vying for precious Quebec votes in the next federal election.

Is Quebec just another province or does its particular history and different language make Quebec something different. Quebec is something of an anomaly in North America. No other state has a numerically significant, geographically centralized, linguistic and cultural sub-group like the Quebeckers. Other such groups have melted away in the face of nationalism or in the case of most First Nations, genocide. Quebec has hung on and few can doubt that having Quebec as part of Canada is certainly a great benefit to our country.

Personally I think there is nothing wrong with recognizing that Quebec is a nation within a larger, predominantly English speaking Canada. In the United Kingdom, there are four nations that make up the country, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. This system can work. Of course if it was that easy it would have happened years ago. I wish all the parties luck in enshrining this relationship in law and making Quebeckers feel a respected part of Canada.

Why has this not happened if it is really so straightforward? Is this really about keeping Quebec in Canada or is this really about keeping all those incredible Quebec goalies strapping on the pads for Canada? In the United Kingdom, each separate nation mentioned above competes in international sporting events like the World Cup. But Canadians react strongly to any suggestion that Quebec compete separately. I think that ultimately this is what it comes down to. We wouldn't stand a chance without Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo in net. For that reason don't expect a serious effort to readjust Canada's relationship with Quebec.