20110815/庄社理冀终有一天 魁省获宪法确认为族邦

(魁省舍布鲁克14日加新社电)魁北克省省长庄社理(Jean Charest)说,他希望终有一天,在加拿大宪法下,魁省是公认的族邦。

但他说,他没有计划在近期发起运动,要求重开宪法辩论。

庄社理说,时机一到,他的政府就会准备就绪。庄社理出任魁省省长后,不乐意讨论这个话题。他这次谈论族邦,是回应魁省自由党青年分部周末提出的动议。

该份动议说,如果宪法辩论重新启动,自由党应推动魁省的公认族邦地位。

庄社理曾是前总理梅龙尼(Brian Mulroney)内阁成员,在上世纪80和90年代的宪法辩论中,他首当其冲。此外,他是米治湖(Meech Lake)和沙洛城(Charlottetown)会议的重要人物。

庄社理周日说,“我没看到它在日程上”,近日可能提起。

他坚称,如果新一轮宪法讨论启动,他的政党“会准备就绪”。

庄社理说,最终他希望宪法确认“魁北克族邦”。

Charest wants Quebec recognized as a nation
Quebec Premier says reopening the Constitution not “on the radar”
The Canadian Press

Premier Jean Charest says he wants Quebec to one day be recognized as a nation under the Canadian Constitution.

But Charest says he doesn’t plan to push to reopen constitutional talks any time soon.

He says his government will be ready when the time comes.

Charest has been reluctant to address the issue since becoming Quebec premier, after spending years participating in fruitless constitutional talks.

Charest was reacting to a motion introduced on the weekend by his party’s youth wing.

The motion urged the Quebec Liberals to push for the province to be recognized as a nation if constitutional talks were to arise.

As a member of Brian Mulroney’s cabinet, Charest had a front-row seat in the wrenching constitutional debates of the 1980s and 1990s.

He was a key point person on the Meech Lake file and lived through the Charlottetown debacle.

“I don’t see it on the radar” as something that would be initiated any time soon, Charest told reporters Sunday in Sherbrooke, Que., at the end of the party’s weekend youth meeting.

But Charest insisted his government “will be ready” if a new round of constitutional talks were to arise.

The premier said that, ultimately, he’d like to see recognition of the “Quebec nation” entrenched in the Constitution.