The Deed is Done

Members of Parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve Prime Minister Harper's motion to recognize the Quebecois as a "nation within a united Canada". 266 MPs of all parties approved the motion, while only 16 rejected it.

I don't know what to make of this. I doubt it will appease separatists in Quebec, who see Quebec as an independent country. I doubt it will please many "average Canadians" either, although I may be wrong on that count.

I do know that the move seems to be a step backwards to a time where ethnicity defined nations. To me, Canada has always risen above mere parochial ethnicity. I am Canadian first, of German descent second (or even third, given my strong identification as a North American).

Perhaps the one thing I find the most ironic is that the Quebecois were never really a "nation" in a true sense. Up until 1759. Quebec was a colony of a nation, France, but it was not a nation in and of itself. The French government called the shots -- and paid the bills. But irony and politics seem to go hand in hand, so perhaps I should not be surprised.