Originally I had a feeling that the ‘Quebec gambit’ that the Tories put together to rebuild the ‘Quebec-West’ coalition of the Mulroney years was just a ploy to win a majority. Now that Quebec has swung to the NDP and the Tories won a majority using rural and suburban Ontario, I imagine that nobody in the Conservative Party will give a rat’s ass about ‘whatever Quebec wants’.And right on cue, "Harper faces golden opportunity, For the first time in half a century, Quebec agenda will not dominate". This isn't the Tories per say, but the point I figure still stands. Regardless, you can sense the ridiculousness of this argument in light of how dominated by Western interests the modern Conservative Party is? Surely you could write this same article back in 1993 when Chretien won a majority with Ontario, exchanging Quebec in the article for 'the West'. The main point is thus; Quebec has been 'annoying' for federal politics in Canada, especially since it's always in 'need of attention' and therefore the formation of a majority without the need for significant representation from Quebec is 'good for the country'. Guess the Tories' 'French kiss with Quebec' was for the most part limited to cynical majority mongering, which wouldn't surprise me.
Update: It strikes me that there's an underlying point here. Notably that Quebec has been a bastion of progressivism in Canada; since the Tories no longer need to 'placate' it, they can now conceivably get to the business of chipping away at the welfare state.
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