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Quebec now a 'nation' within Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's move to recognise Quebec as a nation within Canada was passed decisively through parliament but opponents say it could eventually tear the country apart.

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MONTREAL: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's move to recognise Quebec as a nation within Canada was passed decisively through parliament but opponents say it could eventually tear the country apart.

Harper stunned political observers last week by sponsoring the motion, which asked parliament to give Quebec special cultural status within the Canadian federation. The bill was approved on Monday evening by a 266 to 16 margin.

The question was simple, Harper said. Do the Quebecois form a nation within a united Canada? The answer is yes. Do the Quebecois form a nation independent of Canada? The answer is no and it will always be no.

The Conservative party motion pre-empted similar initiatives being prepared by the separatist Bloc Quebecois and the opposition Liberals.

Opponents of the motion argue that, even though it is largely symbolic, the move represents an unnecessary foray into Canada's long-simmering constitutional feud.

Gilles Duceppe, the leader of the Bloc Quebecois, said while they were a nation within Canada now, the province would become a nation and a sovereign country in the near future.

Canada's aboriginal communities reacted to the motion with anger. Phil Fontaine, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said that if Quebec deserves special recognition, then so do Canada's aboriginals.

Earlier Monday, Conservative cabinet minister Michael Chong quit in protest.

"I believe that recognising the Quebecois as a nation, even within a united Canada, is nothing less than the recognition of an ethnic nationalism," he said.

The event marks another chapter in the debate over Quebec's place in Canadian confederation. About 80 percent of the 7.65 million people in the eastern Canadian province speak French as their first language. For the majority of Canada's remaining 25 million people, English predominates.

The province has long sought more power to defend its cultural and linguistic makeup. The issue has been put to the people of Quebec twice in referendums.

In 1980, Quebecers voted by a solid majority against a proposal to redefine the relationship between the province and the country, temporarily pushing the issue out of the spotlight.

But when Canada ratified its constitution two years later, Quebec premier Rene Levesque refused to sign the document, enraged at what he saw as other provinces negotiating behind his back.

A second referendum in 1995 proved to be more acrimonious than the first, with voters in the province electing to remain part of Canada by a margin of less than one percent.

Monday's motion recognised that the Quebecois form a nation on a cultural basis only.

Guy Lachapelle, secretary general of the International Political Science Association, said that Harper's move represented a strategic attempt to reverse the party's lagging support in the province by acknowledging what was already a political reality.

"Harper put forward the motion simply to beat his opposition to the punch. From a political point of view, it is symbolic and has no legal or constitutional implications," Lachapelle said.

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