My Little Corner of Canada: A bull in the china shop

JOHN AMAGOALIK

Jacques (the Joker) Parizeau stumbled into the federal election campaign like a bull in a china shop. The unpredictable fumbling separatist leader revealed in his new book that he would have declared unilateral independence within days of a Yes victory in the last Quebec referendum. This little bombshell left Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard and Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe at a loss for words and pleading innocence. For those of us who watch the separatists carefully, this was no great surprise.

We of course remember that a Bloc MP invited members of the Canadian Armed Forces in Quebec to switch allegiance after a Yes victory. We also remember that Bernard Landry, Quebec’s vise premier, sent a letter to foreign ambassadors asking them to recognize an independent Quebec in the event of a Yes vote during the 1995 referendum. This latest revelation is par for the course.

Whether anybody likes it or not, the Quebec question is already one of the key issues in the federal election campaign. Parizeau probably thought the release of his book during the campaign would help the Bloc Québécois. The immediate effect seems to have been to throw Duceppe’s campaign into disarray. Poor Duceppe would probably like to tell the Joker to stay home and shut up. Parizeau can be his own worst enemy.

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It’s fitting that the first submission in the Nunavut Flag Contest came from Polar Boy. The residents of Iqaluit know that Polar Boy expresses his concern for the community in his own way.

Baker Lake has Super Shamo. Iqaluit has Polar Boy. They make a pretty good team.