PM HARPER SUPPORTS QUEBEC ROLE ON INTERNATIONAL SCENE

C O N F I D E N T I A L QUEBEC 000031 SIPDIS PARIS PASS TO UNESCO E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/8/2016 TAGS: ECON PREL PGOV CA SUBJECT: PM HARPER SUPPORTS QUEBEC ROLE ON INTERNATIONAL SCENE CLASSIFIED BY: Abigail Friedman, Consul General, Quebec City, State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: PM Harper and Quebec Premier Charest met in Quebec City March 8 and announced they are tasking their respective officials to work together to assure that "Quebec's unique voice" will be heard at UNESCO. PM Harper also said he would attend the Francophonie summit in Bucharest this fall and that both Charest and he would greet the francophone leaders when they come to Quebec City in 2008. The two leaders sought to underscore the symbolic significance of this, their third meeting since Harper took office, casting it as another demonstration of PM Harper's desire to strike with Quebec a new federal relationship ("Open Federalism"). On domestic issues such as righting the fiscal imbalance and funding daycare, Harper and Charest stressed harmony but made no specific announcements. The Harper-Charest meeting was a plus for Charest, who continues to be plagued with voter discontent with his leadership, but Harper's Quebec-centric approach may well start to raise eyebrows in Canada's other provinces. End summary. ¶2. (U) PM Harper and Quebec Premier Charest held their third face-to-face meeting (the first in the province) since Stephen Harper's election in January. Underscoring the symbolic significance of the two-hour meeting and working lunch held in Quebec City, Charest reminded journalists at the joint press conference following that it was the first time in over twenty years that a Canadian PM had visited Quebec's national assembly. (The last visit was by another conservative, former PM Brian Mulroney, in 1984.) ¶3. (SBU) PM Harper announced that the two leaders had agreed to work so that "Quebec's unique voice" will be heard at UNESCO. He stopped short of saying that the federal government would push for a separate seat for Quebec at UNESCO, thus leaving open the question of exactly how Ottawa and Quebec intend to make Quebec's voice heard. (Note: our contacts here tell us that FM MacKay has broached this with the French government and that the French are supportive of Quebec and Canada's efforts on this score. End note.) Harper also told the gathered press that he would attend the "Francophonie summit" in Bucharest this fall and that both he and Charest would greet Francophonie leaders when the summit is held in Quebec City in 2008 (during Quebec's 400th anniversary). Concluding his prepared remarks to the press, PM Harper said that his government is committed to advancing and promoting Canada's "cultural diversity on the world stage." ¶4. (U) In the Q and A, journalists asked the two leaders about progress on resolving the fiscal imbalance and on support for daycare programs. While emphasizing harmony between Ottawa and Quebec, they declined to get into specifics. Charest acknowledged that they had spoken at length about the fiscal imbalance, but that this was not a problem that could be resolved overnight. Harper stated that he wants to make progress this year, but that he will wait for the completion of two reports on the matter this spring. ¶5. (U) Harper rejected media suggestions that his government is playing favorites with Quebec at the expense of the other provinces. Canada's other provinces expect Ottawa to get the relationship right between the federal government and Quebec, he said, adding that "a strong and united Canada requires a strong Quebec." Charest, as he has often in the past, eloquently defended federalism. "We believe in Canada," he stated plainly. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) As with the two previous meetings, we expect this latest meeting between Harper and Charest to be a clear plus for the Quebec Premier. Charest is at his best, and most appreciated by Quebeckers, when he is defending Quebec's role on the international or national stage. His problems begin when he is called upon to tend to the provincial stage, and here they remain considerable. For every positive step by the Charest government on local matters - be it managing the health care issue or the province's Avian Flu strategy - there seems to be a daily fare of Charest actions that are widely criticized by the public and media. In the past few weeks, these have ranged from a poorly managed cabinet reshuffle, the announcement of the sale of part of a national park to developers, a price-fixing scandal at the government-owned liquor stores, sudden hikes in the cost of driver's permits, and looming strikes in day care centers. All of these items are small potatoes compared to the larger issue of Canadian federalism, but to Quebec voters, they count big. FRIEDMAN