Gerard Kennedy may have pushed himself into 3rd place on the first ballot

The following wire story seems to be good news for Gerard Kennedy at the convention - if it is true and if he is the only one willing to go after the folly of the nation notion. As someone whose family immigrated to Quebec over 75 years ago and who will never be pur laine, we need to put a stop to this motion that in the end supports ethnic nationalism at the expense of Canada.

Grit leadership hopeful Kennedy bucks tide, opposes Quebec nation resolution
By JOAN BRYDEN

OTTAWA (CP) - Liberal leadership hopeful Gerard Kennedy has decided to buck the tide of political opinion, coming out against a parliamentary motion recognizing Quebecers as a nation within a united Canada.

The Canadian Press has learned that Kennedy will issue a statement Monday opposing the motion, just as the House of Commons prepares to debate the surprise resolution introduced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper last week.

In so doing, Kennedy will become the only Liberal leadership contender to reject the motion, which has been embraced with varying degrees of unease by his seven rival candidates, Harper's Conservatives, most Liberal MPs and the New Democrats. Even the separatist Bloc Quebecois has come on side.

A senior Kennedy source said the third-place contender believes the motion is irresponsible and wrong for Canada.

Kennedy believes the motion raises expectations of eventual constitutional entrenchment of Quebec nationhood without defining what is meant by the word nation. Moreover, he is worried that the motion will deepen divisions in the country, the source said.

Kennedy, a former Ontario education minister, does not have a seat in the Commons but is issuing his statement in advance of the vote on Harper's motion, expected late Monday.

As Calgary Grit notes here, the Harper Cabinet is using ethnic nationalism to defend this motion. By Lawrence Cannon's way of thinking, my family is excluded from the Quebecois nation and I guess we are just the "ethnics" Jacques Parizeau complained about after the 1995 referendum.