Harper defeat first step to lasting constitutional peace, Layton tells Quebec

<p>MONTREAL – In a push for more votes in Quebec, NDP Leader Jack Layton is talking about reopening the Constitution to bring the province into the fold.</p> <p>He’s also resurrected an old sovereigntist term to promote his federalist stand.</p> <p>Layton told reporters in Montreal that the first hurdle in bringing Quebec into Canada’s constitution is to replace the government of Stephen Harper.</p> <p>”Because the Harper government arrived with all this great promise and was going to recognize the nation of Quebec and so on and so forth, it turned out all to be empty words,” Layton said.</p> <p>It’s a problem that can’t go on forever, he said.</p> <p>But Harper told reporters in Asbestos, Que., on Tuesday that he’s travelled the country for five years, and bringing Quebec into the fold doesn’t appear to be a priority for Canadians.</p> <p>”They do not want an unstable government that is going to spend time arguing about the Constitution,” he said. “We went through that for 20 years.”</p> <p>Instead, he said, economic recovery, jobs, affordable services and keeping taxes down are the priorities of Canadians.</p> <p>Layton said creating the “winning conditions” for constitutional change starts by replacing the Harper government, respecting the people of Quebec and taking steps in the House of Commons to show Quebecers that there’s an appreciation of key issues.</p> <p>The term “winning conditions” has been used by Layton before in this campaign, and before that it was a quote attributed to sovereigntist Lucien Bouchard.</p> <p>The former Quebec premier and Mulroney cabinet minister used the term after the narrow referendum loss in 1995 saying the winning conditions for a new referendum would be economic recovery and no deficit.</p> <p>Layton, whose prospects seem to be increasing in Quebec with every opinion poll, said his comments aren’t about appeasing anyone.</p> <p>”We have this historic problem that we have a quarter of our population, the people of Quebec, who have never signed onto the Constitution,” he said.</p> <p>He told reporters the party would start by showing Quebecers there’s an appreciation of some of the key issues.</p> <p>While Quebec’s absence from the Constitution is a significant gap in Canada’s political history, Layton said it’s not an immediate issue in the way that getting a job, finding a family doctor and retirement security for seniors are.</p> <p>Layton also said he would also like to see the principles of Quebec’s language law, which protects the French language, applied to federally regulated workplaces.</p> <p>He said it makes no sense that laws in a provincially regulated bank protect the language rights of French-speaking workers, but those working across the street at a federally regulated worksite don’t have the same rights.</p> <p>Layton’s comments come as the New Democrats release their latest TV ad, entitled “Imagine.”</p> <p>The advertisement is a 180-degree turn from the Conservative and Liberal attack ads aimed at the New Democrats and resembles the Lotto 6-49 ads asking people to imagine what it’s like to become a millionaire.</p> <p>”Imagine a leader who sees millions of Canadians without a family doctor, and then actually hires more family doctors,” say actors in the ad. “Imagine a leader who measures the strength of the economy by whether or not you can make ends meet.”</p> <p>About 250 people later attended an electronic town hall meeting in Toronto where Layton answered questions from the phone, the audience and on Twitter.</p> <p>”This is the first time I’ve ever received a question through Twitter,” Layton said smiling.</p> <p>None of the questions were difficult for him and most were in his list of campaign promises.</p> <p>Questions covered health care, post-secondary education, homelessness, supporting seniors and the high price of gasoline.</p> <p>His biggest applause came near the end.</p> <p>”All I want to say is go Canucks, go Habs,” referring to the Canadian teams facing elimination in the NHL playoffs series.</p>