What is Harper doing?

[cowman]

When Stephen Harper acknowledged "Quebec is a nation"...what was he doing? A lot of commentators thought he was completely wrong and a lot of others thought it was just a "feel good" type of statement, without any real thought of change?
Now I don't know how any of you think on this subject, but I have no doubt the Quebec seperatists will pick up the ball and run with it! They don't think it is a meaningless "feel good" thing?
But before we all condemn Harper over this one...remember this: Stephen Harper always believed the federal government should have a smaller role in the business of Canada...and the provinces a larger role? After all he was a co-author of the famous "firewalls document" for Alberta?
And think about this also: What Quebec gets...every other province should be able to get! Maybe the day when the federal government can loot and pillage at will, is coming to an end?
And good old Liberal Iggy endorsed the idea...so how can we lose?

[wilagro]

cowman: Cheap political trick...nothing more...nothing less.

[ivbinconned]

Not "cheap" just foxy!

[ivbinconned]

Here is one explanation taken from another site.........

I see a lot of ink is still being spilled over the definition of nation.

Please don't stop. By all means continue.

See unless someone actually offers to open the constitution this declaration/motion/recomendation is squat.

So ask yourself why?

Why indeed.

The whole idea that Harper would ever do it made everyone of us do a double take.

Why would he do such a thing?

Lets review shall we.

The Quebec wing of the liberal party has submitted a motion that as well as recognizing Quebec as a nation it also wants to lock the LPC into reopening the constitution.
Ask why would they want to do that? Or more appropriately to what benefit?
The liberal party, most notably the leadership candidates but one, basically freaked out over the prospect of having this motion debated at the convention indicating that it would divide the party terminally.
Ask yourself what benefit they would achieve by finding a way out of having to debate the motion as worded?
The Bloc, watching the liberals twist themselves into a pretzle trying to find an escape hatch, decided that putting a similar question in the HoC to ask is Quebec a nation currently in Canada, yada, yada, yada.
How would they benefit by this if the motion had no force of law?
The obviious is that it would create no end of navel gazing and interest from the constitutional experts that have been eeking out a living as TA's and legal assistants as the constitutional industry bubble burst back in 95, and they really haven't had a lot of work since the big constitutional market back when Trudeau got it going.
But I digress.
Why is Harper doing this?

Who benefits?

Better question. What would someone have to do to top Harper's motion?

Answer: An outright offer of constitutional recognition.

I kindly draw your attention to the motion that is to be brought forth at the floor of the liberal convention....for that matter it now must be if the LPC is to reclaim the ground of being the defenders of the federalist cause in Quebec.
The fly in the ointment and where guys like Dion and Rae want to avoid is the fact that the liberal motion is that it states that this statement is to be "officialize" Quebec as a nation.
Officialize could mean whatever you want it to, but to the closet separatists in Quebec it means "power grab".
Harper isn't stupid, he knows this, he also knows the liberals are desparate to reclaim the federalist high ground, and with the prospect of a waffler like Iggy winning the leadership the odds that Iggy will promise constitutional change is greater than ever.
Already Iggy is crowing about how this vindicates his stand.
Rae and Dion are now wanting the convention motion shelved (not quashed, just put it aside for later use when the "conditions" are right).
They want it shelved because they want their version of "officialize" to mean a motion in the HoC, not as the motion originally declared constitutional change.

Harper has left the path open for the liberals to reclaim the federalist high ground, but to do so they must up the ante.
And for that my friends, the country has no stomach for it