A month ago two thirds of the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada endorsed a motion to be presented at the Party’s national convention next week that “the Quebec nation within Canada be recognized and that the Party create a task force to suggest ways to officialize this historical and social reality”.

The Quebec resolution split the Liberals and their leadership candidates.

Earlier this week, as the Liberals tried to smooth over their differences, the Bloc Quebecois decided to embarrass the Liberals by exploiting those differences. The Bloc served notice that they would introduce a motion in Parliament that would read as follows “That this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation”.

For the record, Webster defines a nation as “a body of people associated with a particular territory and possessing its own government”.

Others define “nation” as a relatively large group of people organized under a single, usually independent government; a country, a people who share common customs, origins, history, and frequently language. The term is sometimes used to describe a community of people (First Nations) with common interests or an ethnic group.

Recognizing the challenge presented by the Bloc motion, Prime Minister Harper shocked the House of Commons on Wednesday by serving notice that he too would put a motion before the House. The Harper motion reads “That this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada”.

Most members in the House quickly endorsed the Harper motion although there will be no vote on it until Monday.

I think he has unleashed a firestorm.

The Bloc were quick to blast the Harper motion on the grounds that Quebec will never accept the fact that Quebec can only be recognized as a nation if it agrees to remain in Canada.

Michael Ignatieff pronounced it as a good day for Canada. Indeed, pundits interpreted Harper’s motion as a lifeline for Ignatieff in that it gets him out from under his “nation” conundrum.

Defenders of the motion say that it is harmless, only a symbolic gesture that changes nothing. In my view, it will embolden separatists and create bitterness and division among Canadians.

Consider these early interpretations.

• Action democratique leader Mario Dumont endorses the Harper motion by describing it as the first step toward negotiating more power for the province of Quebec and reducing federal spending powers.

• Premier Jean Charest says that recognition of Quebec as a nation will affect how courts interpret the province’s laws and influence the way the international community views Quebec. He says “it changes our place in Canada”.

• Andre Bouteclaire, leader of the Parti Québécois says that recognition of Quebec as a nation will help speed the transition to separation.

Supporters of the Harper motion, including many of the Liberal leadership candidates say the motion removes the question of Quebec nationhood from the leadership race. Some suggest that it will cement Harpers relationship with Quebec and boost his support in that province.

Stéphane Dion says he can live with the motion. Bill Graham, interim Liberal Leader says almost certainly he will support it. Ken Dryden says it has changed things but he doesn’t elaborate.

At this writing, Bob Rae and Gerald Kennedy had reserved comment although Rae had been strongly opposed to the Quebec Liberal motion on the subject. There are some people in both the Conservative and the Liberal caucus who say they may not support the motion.

To be fair and to provide some context, it should be noted that Harper’s motion only recognizes the Quebec people, not the province, as a nation. The flip side is that such recognition may encourage other groups such as the Acadians, or the Italians or the Chinese to demand nationhood “within a united Canada”.

The first draft of this column focused on the Liberal leadership race and prospects for the respective candidates. The Bloc and Harper motions have changed the context for that race.

The Federal Liberal Leadership race started with something in the order of eleven candidates. Reality and money pared that number to eight, leaving four “contenders” and four also-rans.

The surprise to me is that Ken Dryden is among the ‘also-rans’. It seems that people couldn’t get beyond his all-star hockey status. He had more to say than most of the candidates but his French language skills and bland delivery left him on the sidelines. It’s too bad because he is a worthy of frontline consideration.

That brings us to the four front-runners: Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae, Stéphane Dion and Gerald Kennedy. Michael Ignatieff helped create the “Quebec as a “nation” debacle. Stéphane Dion appears to support the Harper motion but rejects the notion of “officializing” Quebec as a nation.

He would also stand to benefit from any move to preserve the longstanding Liberal tradition of “rotation” between English and French leaders.

Pundits suggest that “winability” will be the most important issue at the convention.

There is no question that winability is important because without it, there is no chance of forming a government and no chance of putting one’s ideas into fruition. There are 308 seats in Parliament. It’s virtually impossible to win a majority without strong support in Quebec (with 75 seats) and Ontario (with 106 seats).

Reaction to the Harper motion will inevitably create context for the next election. When you look at the leadership race through an Ontario/Quebec prism, you quickly reduce the leadership contenders to three: Ignatieff, Rae and Dion, all perfectly bilingual (although some might argue with Dion’s use of the English language).

If winability trumps the day, my bet is that Michael Ignatieff will be the man. He’s new, unencumbered (except by his foot) and looks and sounds like a Canadian Prime Minister.

W.E. (Bill) Belliveau is a Shediac resident and Moncton business consultant. He can be contacted at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com Atlantic Insight is a published Blog inventory of opinion articles published weekly in New Brunswick's print media as written by W.E. (Bill) Belliveau, who is a resident of Shediac, New Brunswick, and small business owner, operating his Moncton-based marketing consultancy, Bell Strategic. He can be reached by e-mail at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com