Noront Resources

One of the most important axioms in Canadian politics was that nobody could win a majority government in Ottawa without winning big in Quebec. That axiom has now been erased.

The credit for calling the bluff on this self-serving rule goes to two people — Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

This artificial Quebec veto on national majorities dominated politics for decades, branding francophone leaders as the only ones capable of winning majorities for their parties and keeping Canada united.

Prime ministers from Quebec have dominated Canadian politics for almost half a century because of this axiom. Lately this notion was strengthened because of the two back-to-back Conservative minority governments: “Harper will never lead a majority government,” many commentators wrote, “because he can’t win Quebec.”

The demise of this fallacy started to take shape in November 2008, at a time when Harper was still disappointed with the results of the October election, in which Quebec denied him a majority. This was also when McGuinty got the news that the Ontario economy was collapsing, with the manufacturing sector evaporating and the almighty auto industry almost bankrupt.

Provincial Liberals and federal Conservatives were fighting each other — and the federal minister of finance, Jim Flaherty, was accused of undermining Ontario’s economy by encouraging investors to stay away from the province.

But this was a fight mainly between Flaherty and his Ontario counterpart Dwight Duncan; McGuinty and Harper were just treading water at a distance.

A message that Harper, disappointed with Quebec, was ready to open up to Queen’s Park, was delivered to McGuinty on Nov. 7, 2008. The Ontario leader, just back from a trip to China, decided to act on the afternoon of the following Monday, Nov. 10, at the end of a federal-provincial summit in Ottawa. And he did.

After the meeting, when all the premiers were leaving, McGuinty stayed behind and informally approached Harper. He told the Prime Minister that it was time to work together for the sake of Canada and Ontario.

It was the cue that Harper was waiting for.

The mood between the two governments changed at once, the two leaders met a few times in the following weeks, and the results could be seen almost immediately.

On Jan. 29, the day after the federal government presented its 2009-2010 budget, a headline in the Star said: “Budget a windfall for Ontario, McGuinty says.” The premier told the Star, “I want to commend Prime Minister Harper and his government for listening to some of the very specific concerns that Ontarians have expressed for an extended period of time.”

A new relationship was born and the axiom that Quebec had veto power over the formation of Canadian majority governments was revoked.

Since then, the two leaders have been seen together almost weekly for photo-ops and an adviser to one of them once told me: “We have to stop this, otherwise someone might get the wrong idea about their relationship.”

This cooperation paid off for Harper on May 2 and it will reward McGuinty next October. Their cooperation was instrumental in fighting the recession to create jobs.

Now, despite being almost obliterated in Quebec, Harper can enjoy a healthy majority, downsizing Quebec’s unjustified ambitions.

The false assumption that Canadian leaders could win a majority only with the blessing of Quebec was the self-serving invention of francophone politicians, whether they branded themselves “federalist” or “separatist.”

It was convenient for both — two faces of the same medal — with one protecting the existence of the other. It’s no coincidence that the collapse of Liberal federalists in Quebec has coincided with the collapse of separatists in Ottawa.

I’m sure Harper will not discriminate against the citizens of Quebec, fooled for years by their own politicians who made them believe their votes carried more weight than those of other Canadians. At the same time, it’s definitely a plus for all Canadians, in all provinces, that this form of political blackmail is gone. Voters can elect politicians because they are capable.

If they’re also from Quebec, no problem.

Angelo Persichilli is the political editor of Corriere Canadese. His column appears Sunday