Not: Tories, Maclean’s and separatists. Many Conservative MPs didn’t like what they did Wednesday night in voting against freedom of the press and Maclean’s magazine but felt cornered by the separatist Bloc Quebecois.
It was quite a disturbing scene. By unanimous consent, MPs from all parties condemned the publication for “the prejudice displayed and the stereotypes employed by Maclean’s magazine to denigrate the Quebec nation, its history and its institutions.”
There are 75 federal seats in the province; no politician wants to anger Quebeckers.
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“Many of us had problems with the motion,” a thoughtful Conservative MP said, feeling that it “attacked freedom of the press and free speech.”
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/macleans-forces-tory-mps-into-separatist-trap/article1737199/