Contrary to feeling a sense of relief other Canadians seem to be expressing at the rise of the Action Democratique party in Quebec's recent election I actually have a sense of unease.ADQ leader Mario Dumont has consistently rejected the label of 'federalist' as vehemently as he has the label of 'separatist'. He says he prefers the term 'autonomist' whatever that means.
I shudder to think what the 40 plus 'autonomists' elected under the ADQ banner to the Quebec National Assembly will think once they have gotten a translation of Prime Minister Harper's 'Firewall letter'. My sense is that they have had one for quite awhile and used it to formulate their own policies.
The Firewall letter which called for a separate police force and pension plan for Alberta is one of those things Harper has done which make politically moderate Canadians reluctant to embrace him. But the worst thing about that incendiary bit of text Harper wrote is the potential it has for misuse by those that would seek to undermine the federal government's role in the federation.
How can a Prime Minister defend the role of the federal government if the vast breadth of his public statements shows he doesn't believe in it himself?
