Prime Minister John A. Macdonald famously described dealing with provincial leaders as \u201cherding cats.\u201d He was right on the money: like cats, premiers will purr loudly to get what they want but ignore you when it suits them. Or worse, lure you in and scratch you when you least expect it. But MacDonald knew how to cajole them, humour them and get his way, and ultimately triumphed in uniting the country we call Canada.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s turn to do the herding. He is a cat guy, so you\u2019d think he would be good at it. So far, he\u2019s managed pretty well: he\u2019s given Alberta treats, patted Ontario on the head and tickled Quebec under the chin. But now, the nasty business of separatism is yowling at the door \u2014 and he has no clue how to manage it.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Carney declared that Alberta\u2019s referendum is a \u201cdangerous bluff\u201d that \u201cwasn\u2019t on the ballot, it wasn\u2019t in the mandate or the platforms of the governing party or the official Opposition.\u201d He referenced his experience with the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom, which he says is \u201cstill trying to undo what people didn\u2019t think they were voting for,\u201d adding<\/a>, \u201cIs it helpful to ask these fundamental questions? No, it\u2019s not helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n Cue the outrage across the country. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner criticized Carney\u2019s \u201ctone,\u201d saying he had \u201cno right to wag his finger at Alberta.\u201d Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois MP Christine Normandin chimed in<\/a>, \u201cThe future of Alberta belongs to Albertans, just as the future of Quebec belongs to Quebecers.\u201d<\/p>\n Carney\u2019s not wrong that referendums are torturous exercises. But scolding Alberta \u2014 and by extension, Quebec, which is holding its own \u201creferendum on a referendum\u201d this fall, since the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois will hold a vote on separation if it wins the provincial election \u2014 won\u2019t advance the federalist cause. If anything, it could backfire by making people feel like they are being dictated to by the very thing separatists are complaining about: Ottawa.<\/p>\n So what should Carney do instead? First, don\u2019t go by the U.K. experience. Canada is not a unitary state like Britain. While both Alberta and Quebec cast federalism as the bogeyman, their grievances are not identical. Quebec has always been focused on language and culture, while Alberta\u2019s main beef is about resource control. They don\u2019t require the same approach, but inevitably what is said about one campaign will affect the other, and Carney needs to be mindful of this.<\/p>\n