RichM, thanks for that link - very helpful to people like me who know little about politics within Canada and Quebec. I agree totally with whoever said above that the language was needlessly offensive to the Quebecois.

Indeed it seems to have been calculated to provoke confrontation. No need to have mentioned any god, and no need to have mentioned "subjects" - which causes deep ofence to many of us in the UK too.

In this specific instance, I'm glad the Quebecois bloc didn't just roll over.