By Angelo Persichilli - from the Toronto Star
One of the most important axioms in Canadian politics was that nobody could win a majority government in Ottawa without winning big in Quebec. That axiom has now been erased.
The credit for calling the bluff on this self-serving rule goes to two people — Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.
This artificial Quebec veto on national majorities dominated politics for decades, branding francophone leaders as the only ones capable of winning majorities for their parties and keeping Canada united.
Prime ministers from Quebec have dominated Canadian politics for almost half a century because of this axiom. Lately this notion was strengthened because of the two back-to-back Conservative minority governments: “Harper will never lead a majority government,” many commentators wrote, “because he can’t win Quebec.”
The demise of this fallacy started to take shape in November 2008, at a time when Harper was still disappointed with the results of the October election, in which Quebec denied him a majority. This was also when McGuinty got the news that the Ontario economy was collapsing, with the manufacturing sector evaporating and the almighty auto industry almost bankrupt.
Provincial Liberals and federal Conservatives were fighting each other — and the federal minister of finance, Jim Flaherty, was accused of undermining Ontario’s economy by encouraging investors to stay away from the province.
But this was a fight mainly between Flaherty and his Ontario counterpart Dwight Duncan; McGuinty and Harper were just treading water at a distance.
A message that Harper, disappointed with Quebec, was ready to open up to Queen’s Park, was delivered to McGuinty on Nov. 7, 2008. The Ontario leader, just back from a trip to China, decided to act on the afternoon of the following Monday, Nov. 10, at the end of a federal-provincial summit in Ottawa. And he did.
After the meeting, when all the premiers were leaving, McGuinty stayed behind and informally approached Harper. He told the Prime Minister that it was time to work together for the sake of Canada and Ontario.
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