SASKATOON – Prime minister Jean ChrŽtien congratulated westerners Oct. 11 for having “kept their cool” in the face of separatists who he said were dominating debate in the House of Commons regarding the coming Quebec referendum.
The prime minister spoke in Saskatoon during a three-stop fund-raising tour of Western Canada that also included Vancouver and Winnipeg.
At a $250-a-plate dinner here, attended by 700 supporters, ChrŽtien said the Yes forces were hoping to embroil Western Canadians in the issue and add further fuel to the separatist fires.
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“You did not bite…. In your own way you said to the people of Quebec that we want to keep the family together.”
His message to the partisan audience was to remain calm during the referendum debate and remember that “it is very, very important, extremely important to remember that this country is what it is because Quebec is a part of it.”
ChrŽtien took his own advice in dealing with the subject of national unity during the tour. He refused questions from reporters on the subject and did not attack the two Quebec leaders directly.
He told the audience he is aware that the debate over Quebec independence has been upsetting for westerners “who have been sitting here waiting, hoping and praying.”
