Canadian Liberal Leader Disparages PM - UPI.com

The Canadian Liberal Party leader, Michael Ignatieff, said some in the government are pushing Quebecers to choose allegiance to Canada over Quebec.

The Canadian Liberal Party leader, Michael Ignatieff, said some in the government are pushing Quebecers to choose allegiance to Canada over Quebec.

Ignatieff said at a Montreal town hall meeting Monday that was live-streamed on the Internet that Quebecers are being subjected to "a form of tyranny" in that there is a national identity in Quebec, "something Quebecers have had forever," and they shouldn't have to make such a choice, the Montreal Gazette reported.

It is "the genius of Canadian federalism that you can be a Quebecer or Canadian in the order that suits you," Ignatieff said.

The meeting was part of a cross-country journey by the Liberal leader, who accused Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper of not being in touch with the public and for his "ridiculous" attack on the long-form census, his purchase of fighter planes without taking competitive bidding and his "incomprehensible" lowering of veteran's benefits, the Gazette reported.