One Warm line

Liberals and the horns of a dilemma

So I have been thinking a lot about Liberals trying to win in Alberta and how that is important for the future. I am also thinking about Liberals winning in Quebec and how crucial that is for the present.
Now I am not personally, onboard with this whole Quebec is a nation thing.
For one thing ANYTHING Lucien Bouchard said just can't be true the man is scum and a traitor.
Apart from that here is the problem.

The idea that Quebec is a nation is antithetical to the Albertan concept of Canada as a country.

The way that Albertans see Canada does not accept the idea of different nations in the bosom of a single state. Mostly it is a semantic issue. To the majority of Albertans, nation, state and country are the same idea. Loading them with different definitions, different shades of meaning does not change the issue that your fundamental loyalty needs to be with just one of those things, either a nation, state or country. Call it what you will, your ultimate loyalty must rest only with one.

IF Quebecers want to be loyal to their nation fine, but in the eyes and hearts of Albertans it means they CANNOT by definition be loyal to Canada.

Where do Liberals want to win? We have to decide what is more important, Alberta or Quebec?

We can't have both.

Every PM has had to learn this. For Mulroney to learn this almost cost us our country by giving us the BQ and regenerating the PQ.

Harper is learning this lesson over Israel and Lebanon.

We need to decide early on because if we decide to say as a party that Quebec is a nation we will not be picking up any seats in Alberta for a long time. In the past it has always been an easy choice because Quebec carried a heck of a lot more weight then Alberta but that is changing and fast.

posted by Aristo @ 7:58 AM