However, some constitutional law experts say the motion as worded by Harper has no meaning in law.
According to the motion, the Québécois, not Quebec as a province, are to be recognized as a nation within a united Canada. The experts said the people themselves are not a legal entity.
Which is exactly what I thought when I read the motion. It's verbage - nothing more. But if it satisfies some, I can't see the harm in it.
And the Press keeps butchering the story
ReplyDeleteThe people themselves are not a legal entity?
ReplyDeleteKinda depends upon one's definition of "Quebecois" doesn't it?
I'm pretty sure the BQ and PQ will argue that the word "Quebecois" means "citizen of Quebec" the way "Canadian" mean "citizen of Canada". So, that makes a reference to the "Quebecois" forming a "nation" pretty much identical to "Canadians" forming a nation, doesn't it? And the fact that that nation is currently "within a united Canada" is simply an acknowledgement that the Quebecois (the people of the Quebec nation) haven't separated from the Canadian nation (yet).
There's a reason the BQ are voting in favour of this motion, and it's not because they've been awed by Tory parliamentary brilliance. It's because they're playing the long game. They're padding the vote. They want this acknowledgement of their nationhood to be OVERWHELMING. Harper's play is too cute by half.
This is step 1 for the BQ/PQ, not step 12, and I wonder how many steps it will take for some to realize that this is Ducceppe's victory, not Harper's. I blame the Liberals for starting this mess, but I've gotta say, I never in a million years would have seen Harper's move coming.
The Liberal's lit the fire, right in the middle of our house, and the BQ figured they could use it to stir up trouble for the Grits before it inevitably died out. Who knew the PM kept gasoline in his office?