Fodder For The Media & Political Scientists

They are really the only ones who gain anything from this nation within a nation issue.Mr. Wiseman proves that....oh! btw I forgot to mention the other group that benefits.Constitution lawyers.

Quebec's place: Here we go again
Canadians are witnessing a phony `crisis' manufactured by politicians, says Nelson Wiseman

Nov. 24, 2006. 01:00 AM

No one was discussing national unity four months ago. Everyone is talking about it today. Why? Has the federal government done something to outrage the province like patriating the Constitution behind its back? Have Canadians slapped Quebecers' collective face by humiliating them as they did with some of their shrill objections to the Meech Lake Accord?

Have a group of bigots stomped on the Quebec flag as was done for the benefit of TV cameras in eastern Ontario in the late 1980s? Are Quebecers being told to speak English?

What we are witnessing is a manufactured "crisis." Actually, nothing has changed in respect of the existential issue of Quebec separating from Canada.

Talk of "nation," however, is beginning to foul the political air. When that happens, the public and the media look to political leaders to respond.

That the separatists want Quebec's separation is old news. Indeed, the "nation" debate for the Conservatives is an ancient issue too; Robert Stanfield entertained the idea of "deux nations" four decades ago and the Liberals feasted on it at his expense.

Since then we have endlessly debated Quebec's "specificity," statut particulier, "distinct society," "special status," and similar formulations.

Lucien Bouchard insisted Quebecers were un people, a people, and that Canada was not a "real country."

Apparently, Quebecers are now content to be a "nation." (Note: Quebec's "First Nations" already fit the bill so they are now eligible to be a Quebec "nation," too, all the while enjoying the benefits of being part of the Canadian "nation," a member of the United Nations.

More.......