The Cat warns Liberal delegates that the proposal now being put forward to amend the Quebec motion in order to recognize Quebec as a "nation" and then say that the Task Force discussions and later decisions will not "necessarily" result in constitutional change, is not good enough.
Such a change will do nothing to assure those Liberals and other Canadians who fear even starting down the slippery slope towards constitutional change.
It is time for the Kennedy, Dion and Rae campaigns to bite the bullet on the Quebec motion, and remove from it both the word "nation" and make it absolutely crystal clear that it is not going to result in any constitutional amendments.
The proposal now being bandied about is DOA because:
- contrary to all the Ignatieff spin, there is no agreement on what "nation" means;
- nor is there agreement on why only Quebec and no other province or peoples are to be included in the constitutional amendments;
- nor does it prevent this becoming a recommendation for constitutional change. We have already seen earlier Quebec versions use words smacking of constitutional change ("formalize" and "officialise").
It is time for decisive leadership. Kill this ill-advised Quebec motion. Replace it with one reaffirming commitment of the Liberal Party to the 1995 Chretien-drafted Parliamentary motion.
