During his cross-Canada tour earlier in the year, Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe never tired of telling his listeners that Canada was a great country. He had learned this shortly after being elected as the first sovereigntist to Parliament - he told one interviewer - when former NDP MP Svend Robinson offered to let him stay in his Vancouver apartment. And he had also spent some time in Whistler, he added, where he may have seen his first real mountains.
As we know from the recent celebration of the 20th anniversary of his election, none of this West Coast experience was sufficient to shake Mr. Duceppe's faith in sovereignty. Quebec is different, he says. Not better, just different.
In today's edition of La Presse, however, we read of a far less open face of the Bloc. MP Carole Lavallée, who represents the constituency of Saint Bruno-Saint Hubert, is denouncing a letter Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent to high school students in May - including to students at schools in Quebec, she says, which are an area of exclusive provincial jurisdiction.
In the offending letter, it turns out that Mr. Harper encouraged students to visit national parks in the coming year, and offered them a free pass valid for a year. In language that evokes the father of many of these parks, Jean Chrétien, in full rhetorical flight, Mr. Harper wrote:
"Go explore our mountains, our forests, our battlefields and forts, our camping sites and more. ... As Canadians, we are fortunate to live in a beautiful country with a rich history. A free admission pass will give you an opportunity to learn more about our shared history and land. As future leaders of our country, Canada is in your hands. The best way to prepare for your leadership role is to learn much as possible about our great country."
Ms. Lavallée, according to the La Presse report, says: "It's propaganda for the federal government to send a letter into schools addressed to students as future leaders of Canada" - which, as an objection, seems a bit lame to me. However, she goes on to criticize the prime-ministerial missive for trying to sell federalism (i.e., Canada) to the Québécois. Not all of whom - she seems to fear - will return from Banff or Pacific Rim as committed to sovereignty as Mr. Duceppe.