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