Harper asks Quebecers to recommit to national issues
ST-LAZARE-DE-BELLECHASSE — Following the return of a federalist government in Quebec, Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged the province Tuesday to resist isolating itself from the rest of the country.
In a speech marking Quebec’s annual Fête nationale, Harper also asked Quebecers to consider voting for his party in the federal election in October 2015.
“Never let anyone tell you, ‘Quebec should isolate itself, never participate in major national and international issues,’ ” he said at a community centre in St-Lazarede-Bellechasse.
“Quebec played a role in the creation of Canada, in its growth and development, and in the common sacrifices that mark its history.”
The remarks were a rare attempt by Harper to make inroads in the province.
He insisted the voice of Quebecers remains strong in Ottawa, even if the Conservatives have a limited presence in the province. The party won just five of Quebec’s 75 federal seats in the past election.
In his speech, Harper reminded the crowd of earlier efforts to reach out.
He said Conservatives adopted a motion in the House of Commons recognizing that Quebecers form a nation within a united Canada and gave the province a seat in Canada’s UNESCO delegation.
Harper made the comments before about 500 people in the riding of Conservative MP Steven Blaney, on the first day of a two-day visit to Quebec.
On Wednesday, Harper is expected to make an announcement alongside Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard in his home riding of Roberval, in Lac-St-Jean.
Couillard, a staunch federalist, won a majority in the April 7 election, beating out Pauline Marois’s Parti Québécois.
Conservative MP Denis Lebel said the result was significant. “It’s clear that the last election has changed the situation,” said Lebel, the federal infrastructure minister.
“We had a former government (the PQ) who wanted to take Quebec out of Canada. For us, that’s not the direction we want to go.”
Harper didn’t always have smooth relations with former Liberal premier Jean Charest, either, but the Conservatives appear to be looking for a fresh start.
Lebel said the federal government is committed to getting things done with Couillard’s Liberals.
“Today, we have a federalist government for the next 4 1/2 years, and I hope that we can do great things together and I think in the coming hours we will show our ability to work together,” he said.