motion on the notion of a nation

[frandroid]

Alright, I feel like I have to update again on this issue which has been changing faster than I've been online. :]

Québécois motion passes 266-16; Intergovernmental affairs minister Michael Chong resigns in order to abstain on whipped vote. Wow, Chong got balls. But considering that the motion is not popular among regular people, he's possibly cemented his seat in his riding. Also, Harper blatantly ignoring him when taking the decision must have sucked. This is the first sign of resistance to Harper's tight-fisted control over his cabinet so far.

Not popular, I said? On The Agenda tonight, self-polled viewers voted 89% to reject the motion. The Agenda is Studio 2's replacement, and it's turned from an accessible public affairs show into a more policy wonk show, so you have to think that the crowd is well-versed in Canadian politics. And there they vastly reject the motion. It's something to keep an eye on, for the following reason:

Gerard Kennedy takes the Trudeauiste "no nationalism" stance. Tom Axworthy was on The Agenda explaining why he jumped onto the Kennedy train for this reason. (Justin Trudeau also hopped on board, but that's more of a joke than anything else.) There might be a lot of rank-and-file Liberals that will give Kennedy a second look. If that K-boy wins though, wait for Québec to become scorched land for Liberals. That would be some salvation from Duceppe, since so far he's kinda been washed out by this motion. Tories could still clean up in Québec seats though.

I didn't talk about it much in Montréal. My friend Marie-Ève, a sovereigntist, hadn't really been paying attention.

I watched 3 different panels on this on TV tonight so I can't remember who said that, but someone mentioned that this reminded them of Charlottetown: the whole political class was for the deal, but Canadians across the board rejected it. I think if the voice of ordinary English Canadians was better heard in Québec on this, it would have the potential of becoming a powder keg. The "nation" question is such a consensus in Québec, it's not even funny.

Speaking of which, the Liberal motion will still have to go on the floor at their convention in Montréal. The motion is more strongly worded than Harper's. Harper recognizes Québécois people as a nation, but the Liberal motion talks about Québec, and then mandates a committee to find a way to accomodate that, which Harper's obviously does not, other than just blabbing. The territorial part is important if you think about the concept of "nation-state".

ETA: Rick Mercer has no clue what he's talking about. Hello, it's a "nation", not a neighbourhood club.

Comments

[the-watchmaker.livejournal.com]

Mercer makes a good point, though. When Harper tosses around words like 'nation' so casually - since 'nation' in the context of his motion holds no legal or constitutional power - we have to wonder whether the term has much meaning at all. Hence the absurd inclusion of 'Blue Jays nation' in his hypothetical situation.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

Point taken.

[debaucheryofgod.livejournal.com]

i read in the elevator today (news bites) that the motion is not on the agenda for the liberal convention.

[frandroid.livejournal.com]

Yes... They're brushing it under the carpet but the question will still have an impact on Kennedy's campaign if no one else's. The motion probably ensured that every single Québec delegate will show up though, so its job as an Ignatieff booster is done.