Western Producer staff
In 1976, after the separatist Parti QuŽbecois first won government in the province, charismatic PQ leader RenŽ Levesque advised the rest of Canada to calm down, take a Valium.
Eighteen years later, Canadian federalists continue to keep the Valium manufacturers profitable.
Last week’s election of the latest, more strident version of the PQ probably led to another outbreak of jitters across the country.
Officially, federal politicians and provincial premiers appeared to be operating in a haze of calm, uttering business-as-usual banalities as if it was just another provincial election.
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Behind the scenes, it surely was a different matter. The potential for the new PQ government to throw a wrench into the federal wheel was being assessed in capitals throughout the dominion.
Premier-designate Jacques Parizeau has waffled on whether he will play the federal-provincial game.
At times, it appears his government will attend meetings to try to squeeze as much out of Canada as it can, as long as it is in the federation. At other times, it appears he will refuse to co-operate with The Rest of Canada in an effort to illustrate that it does not matter to Quebec.
Either way, the potential for mischief is great.
There are some obvious, big-ticket Liberal policy priority areas that are considered vulnerable to the PQ if it wants to make mischief – the social policy review being proposed by Lloyd Axworthy, for example, and the attempt to reform the health care system.
But Canadian agriculture also has a huge stake in this, a stake that most directly hits Western Canada.
It could turn out to be the Quebec election’s most direct impact on many Prairie residents, the factor that could increase tensions between the two regions of the country in the build-up to the 1995 Quebec referendum.
In the months ahead, the official Quebec position will be that Ottawa should vacate the agriculture scene in the province, making sure only that Quebec gets its fair share of national spending.
Meanwhile, Quebec has been a player in such delicate national negotiations as revision of the national safety-net system. A change in strategy by such a key province would at the very least delay the process.
And of course, the new government will demand a say in any federal decision to change the way the Crow Benefit subsidy is paid out.
Federal attempts to deal with the new separatist government could stir Prairie farmer resentment over what they see as Ottawa pandering to Quebec.
Western farmers want to see action on these issues. They will object to any appearance of delay to accommodate Quebec. Reform MPs will be happy to carry those objections to the floor of the House of Commons.
At a time when many political leaders are counselling caution and delicate use of precision instruments, a great many will be more inclined to the use of blunt objects. It is one of the great challenges facing federalists.
