file under: dotted lines visible from space

having lived in this country for just under 3 years, i've got some major background reading to do before speaking with much confidence on the matter, but this whole situation seems to be a deft political maneuver intended to, on one hand, stall a more aggressive proposal from the bloc quebecois while, on the other hand, formally acknowledge something that most people assume to be blatantly obvious (namely, that quebec has a distinct yet amorphous cultural "identity" that is the extension of one branch of this country's co-founding communities).

of course, while harper's acknowledgement avoids any real political or legal transformation for QC (thus far, at least), it does seem to be one of those "gesture intended to signal major break from historical positions" things.

we'll see how quickly and how badly this vague declaration will be distorted by parties eager to expand its scope and meaning before more specific language limits the many possibilities for abuse.

[found this thread later, which has been informative and thankfully not too knee-jerky.]