Best Of Friends

Voters' dissatisfaction is such that, recently, a poll indicated that Lucien Bouchard -- former federalist minister, former separatist premier -- would sweep everyone if he came back as head of the Action démocratique du Québec, a party that tries hard to be neither federalist nor separatist by calling itself "autonomiste." But Bouchard, 67, is unlikely to return to politics. And so it is Harper's show -- and if he keeps playing his hand as well as he has since the Jan. 23 federal election, he could, almost singlehandedly, prop up an ailing federalist government in Quebec City, decimate the Bloc Québécois in Ottawa, condemn the federal Liberals to a decade in hell -- and make another referendum on Quebec's secession a political impracticality for the foreseeable future. That and, perhaps, alter the way Canada works and currently sees itself in the bargain. How did Harper get there? In part by tearing a page off John Sleeman's book. The brewer from Guelph, Ont., was able to steal a significant share of Quebec's distinctive suds market by directly addressing his potential customers -- "Bohnjoowr, eecee John" -- thus turning his halting, broken French into a likeable trademark. The key, Sleeman's local advertiser told Maclean's at the time, is that Quebecers are generally not hostile to other Canadians. Quite the contrary, said François Lacoursière: "Make an effort to reach out to them, they'll love you back." What worked for John also worked for Stephen. http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/canada/article.jsp?content=20060522_127138_127138#

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