ROBERVAL, Que. - Prime Minister Stephen Harper used Quebec's provincial holiday Sunday to remind Quebecers that his government has acknowledged the Quebecois as a nation.
Harper was visiting Roberval-Lac-St-Jean riding, which the Conservatives hope to take away from the Bloc Quebecois in a byelection which has yet to be called.
The Conservatives also used the occasion to trot out their candidate for the riding, Denis Lebel, the popular mayor of Roberval.
Harper invoked the motion declaring the Quebecois as a nation within a united Canada in his Fete nationale speech, saying June 24th had "a particular significance this year."
"For the first time since Confederation, Quebecers can celebrate together the recognition that they form a nation within a united Canada," Harper said.
The motion was passed last November in the House of Commons, heading off a similarly worded motion from the Bloc Quebecois that arose out of a debate over Quebec nationhood among Liberal leadership candidates at the time.
In Montreal, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion challenged Harper to define exactly who is part of the Quebecois nation, saying it needs to be clear that it includes everyone and not just those of francophone origin.
Harper did not take questions from the media on Dion's charge, but in Montreal Public Works Minister Michael Fortier said the matter had been settled months ago.
Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, who accompanied Harper to Roberval, said the matter is clear to him.
"Each Quebecer knows what we are," he said. "We are a nation. We are one of the two nations which founded this country."
In Roberval, Harper said all Canadians can take pride in the accomplishments of Quebecers.
"The first people in this country to call themselves Canadians were the French-speaking settlers who built their first community on the banks of the St. Lawrence then followed our rivers to places like Lac St-Jean and then across our land envisioning a country from sea to sea," he said.
"This is our history as Canadians, it is who we are and we can all be proud of it."
