Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government may soon be facing a great embarrassment. The trust that Harper's government placed in the country of Belgium could be proven misplaced (reported by the Leader-Post in the article Harper's federalism model on the brink of breaking up).
Harper's plan to model his idea of federalism after that which is utilized by Belgium is a clear display of his poor decision making skills. Even though Belgium had yet to prove its version of federalism as capable and proper, Harper was still content with making public his intentions to base his model after it.
It is clear that Harper does desire to give each province greater rights, or at least that was what he stated as one of his campaign promises, but to model this after the platform used in Belgium could be seen as a huge mistake. The article states that Harper's promotion of this platform was "ironic since Belgium was more prone to splitting into smaller countries than ever before." This tension was caused by the "rivalries between its Dutch- and French-speaking communities."
The Canadian provinces face a similar tension as that which plagues Belgium. With the constant threats of seperation coming out of Quebec, combined with growing tensions between other provinces, it would not be surprising if Canada were to face a similar confrontation. While it is unlikely that Canada would face something as severe as that in Belgium, that does not mean it could not happen on a smaller scale.
Stephen Harper's blind faith in Belgium's unproven model of federalism is a move that should make many question his skills as the Prime Minister of Canada.
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