As anyone even closely following this election knows by now, the campaign slogan for the Conservatives is "Here for Canada." Simple, patriotic, pithy -- it's all things parties look for in slogans. It even translates nicely into French: "Ici Pour le Canada."Turns out all the Conservative signs in Quebec have 'Canada' left off. Is Harper promoting separatism?
But Veterans Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn is among those who has a different take on his party's "Here for Canada" campaign slogan. His riding of Jonquiere-Alma is in the middle of the Saguenay -- a region of Quebec considered the heartland of the sovereignty movement. A place where many people aren't looking for someone who's "Here for Canada". So Conservative campaign signs in Saguenay make no mention of the possibly offending word "Canada" -- instead the slogan here is "Notre Region au Pouvoir" (Our Region in Power).
I'd like to know when he's ever been here for Canada. Quebecers don't have to wonder.
At a rally in Kitchener, Steve said that this was the Canada that Conservatives had created. We know that. On May 2, we want our old Canada back. The nice one.
It's a good thing that the Cons use the "Our region in power" because "our" can indeed refer to all of the voters in a riding, but "our" can also apply to only the conservatives, hence it can be read, "we, the conservatives' region in power." And many Quebecers can see a hidden meaning of "Alberta region in power."
ReplyDeleteNot using the word "Canada" is a double-edged sword.
Also, living in Montreal, we see in the anglophone neighbourhood, the "Here for Canada" slogan.