QUEBEC — Premier Jean Charest said it doesn't matter if Canadians in other provinces don't agree that Quebec is a nation.
“For us, Quebec is a nation,” Mr. Charest told reporters Saturday after a regional meeting of his Quebec Liberals.
“There has never been any doubt in my mind,” he added. “And by the way, neither do I believe that Quebeckers have any permission to ask from anyone to be who they are. Period.”
Reporters raised the nationhood issue after recent polls suggested the federal Liberal party's ongoing debate over whether Quebec is a nation has little resonance with Canadians.
Leadership front runner Michael Ignatieff has said publicly he wants to formally recognize Quebec's status as a nation within Canada.
However, recent polls suggested less than half of respondents in Canada agreed that Quebec was a nation.
“All of that is a very theoretical debate,” mr. Charest said. “I don't comment on polls for a very good reason because they are done in a vacuum.”
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