Blog Quebecois

NEWSFLASH:
In a fit of patriotic fervour arising out of the recent constitutional crisis, unnamed sources are saying, Stephen Harper has had a map of Canada tattooed on his derriere. Unfortunately, the tattoo is apparently configured in such a way that every time he bends over Quebec separates.

Okay, it’s an old joke, more befitting the Royal Canadian Air Farce than the cutting edge hipsters who contribute to this blog. But I couldn’t resist, especially considering the ass Harper has made of himself in the last few days.

If you think you’re sick of electoral politics after the Canadian and U.S. elections, just remember, Quebeckers go to the polls on Dec. 8. And it will be interesting to see what sort of bump the Parti Quebecois, who had been poised to lose to Charest’s Liberals, will receive from Harper’s demonization of the Bloc Quebecois as part of his propaganda war to discredit the Liberal-NDP coalition.

The Bloc were formed in 1991. In six federal elections since then, they have consistently won between 40 and 50 seats. In the process, they have morphed from a sovereignist or separatist party into one that advocates on behalf of the province’s interests. No harm in that. MPs from other parties who are elected to Parliament do it regularly for the ridings/regions they represent.

By slagging the Bloc, noted Antonia Maioni of McGill University in a Dec. 3 CTV interview, Harper has "burned a lot of bridges in Quebec".

If it was just a matter of Harper torching his party’s electoral chances in Quebec for the foreseeable future, that would be his cross to bear. But the heated rhetoric that he, his MPs, and Conservative supporters across Canada have used to attack the Bloc will surely cause many soft nationalists in Quebec to question their province’s place in Confederation. Can't say as I blame them.