-Canada's Harper makes more Quebec concessions
(Adds reaction by separatists paras 12-13)
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA(Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper, keen to both boost his support in French-speaking
Quebec and to counter separatist forces there, said Friday
that Canada would allow the province to play a role in the
United Nations' cultural agency, UNESCO.
Harper's announcement in Quebec City fulfills a promise he
made in the run-up to the Jan. 23 federal election, when his
Conservatives won a narrow victory in large part due to
unexpectedly high levels of support in Quebec.
Harper, who heads a fragile minority government, sees a
chance to pick up Quebec votes in the next election and has
been assiduously courting both the province and its Liberal
premier, Jean Charest. Both men are committed to fighting
separatists who want independence for Quebec.
"We are at the dawn of a new era, an era that will see us
build a strong, united, free and independent Canada in which a
confident, autonomous, proud and unified Quebec can develop its full potential," Harper told Quebec legislators.
Quebec will now have a permanent representative inside
Canada's UNESCO delegation, who will help devise policy.
The agreement is likely to boost the fortunes of Charest,
whose Liberals trail the separatist Parti Quebecois ahead of
provincial elections expected next year. The PQ is promising to
hold another referendum on independence if it wins.
A delighted Charest declared the deal was "the greatest
victory in the history of Quebec diplomacy".
Charest faces a balancing act between fending off the
separatists on one hand and showing voters he is doing enough
to defend the interests and culture of Quebec, a province of
7.5 million people, most of whom speak only French.
A greater role at UNESCO was one of his top priorities.
Another was that the federal government address the so-called
fiscal imbalance -- complaints by provinces that Ottawa hangs
on to a disproportionately large percentage of tax revenues.
In its first budget this week, the Harper government
promised to hold a conference with the provinces later this
year to look at ways of dealing with the imbalance.
Observers say Harper is trying to boost support in Quebec
at the expense of the Bloc Quebecois -- the PQ's federal wing
-- which holds most of the province's 75 parliamentary seats.
Bloc foreign affairs spokeswoman Francine Lalonde dismissed
the agreement on UNESCO, saying it ensured that Canada would
have the last word on cultural matters affecting Quebec.
"There will be one voice, one seat, one vote ... Quebec can
only complement the Canadian position," she told reporters.
The Bloc said this week it would support the government's
budget because of the promise to deal with the imbalance, which
is also one of the separatist party's main platforms.
Observers say Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe is more concerned
with a poll this week that showed his party narrowly trailing
Harper's, something unthinkable six months ago.
"By making the fiscal imbalance the ultimate test of
federalism, Gilles Duceppe has got his finger trapped in the
gears. The rest of his body could follow if Harper's government
and the provinces find grounds for an agreement (on the
imbalance)," wrote commentator Vincent Marissal in La Presse.
A final deal on the imbalance could result in the ultimate
victory for Harper -- gaining enough Quebec seats in the next
federal election to win a majority and helping Charest win the
next provincial election, thereby staving off the separatists.
REUTERS
Edited to remove caps in thread title and for formatting. Cosmo
(Adds reaction by separatists paras 12-13)
By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA(Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
Harper, keen to both boost his support in French-speaking
Quebec and to counter separatist forces there, said Friday
that Canada would allow the province to play a role in the
United Nations' cultural agency, UNESCO.
Harper's announcement in Quebec City fulfills a promise he
made in the run-up to the Jan. 23 federal election, when his
Conservatives won a narrow victory in large part due to
unexpectedly high levels of support in Quebec.
Harper, who heads a fragile minority government, sees a
chance to pick up Quebec votes in the next election and has
been assiduously courting both the province and its Liberal
premier, Jean Charest. Both men are committed to fighting
separatists who want independence for Quebec.
"We are at the dawn of a new era, an era that will see us
build a strong, united, free and independent Canada in which a
confident, autonomous, proud and unified Quebec can develop its full potential," Harper told Quebec legislators.
Quebec will now have a permanent representative inside
Canada's UNESCO delegation, who will help devise policy.
The agreement is likely to boost the fortunes of Charest,
whose Liberals trail the separatist Parti Quebecois ahead of
provincial elections expected next year. The PQ is promising to
hold another referendum on independence if it wins.
A delighted Charest declared the deal was "the greatest
victory in the history of Quebec diplomacy".
Charest faces a balancing act between fending off the
separatists on one hand and showing voters he is doing enough
to defend the interests and culture of Quebec, a province of
7.5 million people, most of whom speak only French.
A greater role at UNESCO was one of his top priorities.
Another was that the federal government address the so-called
fiscal imbalance -- complaints by provinces that Ottawa hangs
on to a disproportionately large percentage of tax revenues.
In its first budget this week, the Harper government
promised to hold a conference with the provinces later this
year to look at ways of dealing with the imbalance.
Observers say Harper is trying to boost support in Quebec
at the expense of the Bloc Quebecois -- the PQ's federal wing
-- which holds most of the province's 75 parliamentary seats.
Bloc foreign affairs spokeswoman Francine Lalonde dismissed
the agreement on UNESCO, saying it ensured that Canada would
have the last word on cultural matters affecting Quebec.
"There will be one voice, one seat, one vote ... Quebec can
only complement the Canadian position," she told reporters.
The Bloc said this week it would support the government's
budget because of the promise to deal with the imbalance, which
is also one of the separatist party's main platforms.
Observers say Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe is more concerned
with a poll this week that showed his party narrowly trailing
Harper's, something unthinkable six months ago.
"By making the fiscal imbalance the ultimate test of
federalism, Gilles Duceppe has got his finger trapped in the
gears. The rest of his body could follow if Harper's government
and the provinces find grounds for an agreement (on the
imbalance)," wrote commentator Vincent Marissal in La Presse.
A final deal on the imbalance could result in the ultimate
victory for Harper -- gaining enough Quebec seats in the next
federal election to win a majority and helping Charest win the
next provincial election, thereby staving off the separatists.
REUTERS
Edited to remove caps in thread title and for formatting. Cosmo