Harper celebrates Fete nationale, but don't ask him to call Quebec a nation
From cbc.ca:
QUEBEC (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to celebrate Quebec's Fete nationale.
He met with his cabinet a skip and a hop from the provincial legislature - which has officially been called the National Assembly since 1968.
The highway signs leading into town describe Quebec City as "La capitale nationale."
But the prime minister stuck to his guns Friday and refused to describe Quebec as a nation.
"If the national assembly wants to make such a declaration, that's its right," Harper said outside a cabinet retreat.
He was peppered with a half-dozen questions on the same theme: Is Quebec a nation? Sovereigntists obviously think so.
But so do the provincial Liberals, the ADQ party, a sizeable number of Quebec federalists and former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, who also endorsed the concept.
Canada recognizes Acadians as a distinct nation. It recognizes aboriginal peoples the same way, and Spain's Catalonians and Basques are among many peoples recognized worldwide as nations without being independent countries.
Still, Harper isn't budging.
"It just seems to me to be a semantic debate that doesn't serve any purpose," he said.
That's not the kind of answer that would wash with the half-dozen sovereigntists standing outside the Citadelle chanting, "Harper go home," as passing cars cheerfully honked.
The Fête nationale du Québec ("Quebec National Holiday") is an official holiday of Quebec, Canada. The festivities occur on June 23 and June 24 and are organized by the Comité organisateur de la fête nationale ("national holiday organizing committee"). Originally, June 24 was a holiday honouring the patron saint of Quebec, St. John the Baptist, and in ordinary conversation the day is still often called la Saint-Jean by Quebecers.
Although the holiday has official status only in Quebec, it is also celebrated by francophones in other Canadian provinces and in the United States as a festival of French Canadian culture. In these contexts, it is more often called Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day.
QUEBEC (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to celebrate Quebec's Fete nationale.
He met with his cabinet a skip and a hop from the provincial legislature - which has officially been called the National Assembly since 1968.
The highway signs leading into town describe Quebec City as "La capitale nationale."
But the prime minister stuck to his guns Friday and refused to describe Quebec as a nation.
"If the national assembly wants to make such a declaration, that's its right," Harper said outside a cabinet retreat.
He was peppered with a half-dozen questions on the same theme: Is Quebec a nation? Sovereigntists obviously think so.
But so do the provincial Liberals, the ADQ party, a sizeable number of Quebec federalists and former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, who also endorsed the concept.
Canada recognizes Acadians as a distinct nation. It recognizes aboriginal peoples the same way, and Spain's Catalonians and Basques are among many peoples recognized worldwide as nations without being independent countries.
Still, Harper isn't budging.
"It just seems to me to be a semantic debate that doesn't serve any purpose," he said.
That's not the kind of answer that would wash with the half-dozen sovereigntists standing outside the Citadelle chanting, "Harper go home," as passing cars cheerfully honked.
The Fête nationale du Québec ("Quebec National Holiday") is an official holiday of Quebec, Canada. The festivities occur on June 23 and June 24 and are organized by the Comité organisateur de la fête nationale ("national holiday organizing committee"). Originally, June 24 was a holiday honouring the patron saint of Quebec, St. John the Baptist, and in ordinary conversation the day is still often called la Saint-Jean by Quebecers.
Although the holiday has official status only in Quebec, it is also celebrated by francophones in other Canadian provinces and in the United States as a festival of French Canadian culture. In these contexts, it is more often called Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day.
posted by eric model | 4:16 PM
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