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Quebec recognised as "nation within Canada"

Move will help reconciliation: Premier

TORONTO: Canadian Parliament on Monday night recognised the French-speaking people of Quebec as a nation within Canada, a seemingly symbolic gesture that has led to a Cabinet resignation and ignited concerns over a renewed push for the province's sovereignty.

The motion presented by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday, which says Quebecois form a nation within a united Canada, is largely symbolic in that it requires no constitutional amendment or change of law. The Opposition Liberals and New Democrats supported the motion, so it passed easily through the House of Commons.

Pre-emptive action

It was devised by Mr. Harper to pre-empt a similar attempt by the Bloc Quebecois, the party in Parliament that represents Quebec, whose members also reluctantly backed the resolution once they realised they had been outflanked by Mr. Harper.

The Tories are lagging in popularity in Quebec and Mr. Harper believes the formal recognition will win him favour among the traditionally liberal voters in the eastern province.

``This Government believes strongly that the time has come for national reconciliation,'' Mr. Harper told the House of Commons hours before the vote.

But others fear the recognition will be divisive, re-igniting hope among Quebec separatists for an independent nation and other ethnic and indigenous groups to demand similar nationhood.

Michael Chong resigned earlier in the day as the Intergovernmental Affairs Minister, saying he could not accept the ``ethnic nationalism'' implicit in Mr. Harper's historic initiative.

``I believe in this great country of ours and I believe in one nation, undivided, called Canada, based on civic and not ethnic nationalism,'' he said.

Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon, Mr. Harper's political lieutenant in Quebec, has insisted the Tory recognition of a Quebecois nation is purely symbolic, with no legal or constitutional consequences.

AP

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