When you think about it, the Liberal leadership race is pretty scary. At least it’s scary if Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae or Stephane Dion gets the nod. I’m not in a position to judge Mr. Kennedy because he’s a former Ontario cabinet minister which has kept him off the national stage but I assume his view of Canada is like that of most Ontarians – the country is Central Canada with a few mostly unimportant appendages.

I worry for Canada.

Mr. Ignatieff clearly doesn’t even understand the basic make-up of the country. His observation that Quebec is a “nation” within a “country” is very scary indeed. In essence he has approved the notion of Sovereignty-Association first put forward by the late  Rene Levesque. Sovereignty-Association would have had Quebec a “nation” with connections to Canada or as BC Premier Bill Bennett called it, divorce with bedroom privileges. Levesque never for a moment thought that this arrangement, if achieved, would last but would be a stepping stone – the last one – before full nationhood. We will reap the whirlwind of Mr. Ignatieff’s silly but devastating remark.

Bob Rae will fill Quebec’s phony constitutional begging bowl because he must if he’s to get any seats in Francophone Quebec. Though Chretien didn’t call Quebec a “nation” he did give them special constitutional rights such as a veto over all proposed constitutional change. It matters not that other regions including BC also got a veto – you improve your nation not by perpetuating the status quo but permitting changes as long as a reasonable number of provinces agree.

That was the beauty of the official amending formula – an amendment is difficult but clearly possible. With vetoes in the hands of Ontario and Quebec those who prefer the status quo will keep it. Now that Quebec is being treated, with the federal government’s support, as a full fledged nation in any international conference where their issues are involved, we’re on the slippery slope to a national breakdown.

The man who sees this most clearly is Stephane Dion. The trouble is that as a Quebecker he dare not back away from “nation” status and a de facto veto or he won’t carry Quebec. Dion will be forced to say, in Quebec at any rate, that Quebec does, or at least must, have powers the remaining provinces do not.

Regardless of who wins the Liberal leadership and no matter who wins the next election, Quebec has at least moved half a step towards separation but when there are only a couple of steps to go, half a step means a lot.