JimLad, you could accuse Newfoundlanders of voting in the last federal election in an even more directly provincial manner, given the success of Danny Williams' ABC campaign.

If it ever came down to Quebecois people deciding to bite the bullet and actually vote to separate, I doubt it would turn out to be the desperate event many people seem to expect. It would certainly be messy, likely moreso for Quebecois than for the rest of Canada. There is a significant and in their own way powerful First Nations presence in Quebec, with enormous land claims and a mandate to remain within the Canadian federal system. This is a can of worms Quebec is aware of and has been reluctant to talk about much when sovereignty is discussed.

It might take some time, but a separate Quebec would swing a lot of Canadian federal power to the West, making it attractive to the Atlantic provinces to possibly throw in their lot with Quebec - there's enough Francophone and ancestrally French people here to make it not unreasonable to Quebec, especially given their likely need to expand their tax base.

I personally doubt it will ever happen - Quebec is too tied to Canada to extricate itself successfully.

And by the way, Atlantic Canadians have heard far more direct insults from politicians at all levels of government in the West (particularly Alberta and BC) and Ontario than we've ever heard from politicians in Quebec. Even in the last decade, when Alberta desperately needs our skilled tradespeople, the attitude towards us out there can be unpleasant. Few Maritimers away to work come home without a few stories of native Albertans casting aspersions their way.

As for Ignatieff, I doubt there's a humble bone in his body. He'd be a one man band were it not for the star-struck bunch of powerful liberals who seem to think he might hold the possibilities of another PET. But he doesn't.