Team Quebec Hockey?

Bloc puts its politics on ice

By DANIEL LEBLANC

Thursday, December 1, 2005 Posted at 4:13 AM EST

From Thursday's Globe and Mail


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<!-- dateline -->Montreal<!-- /dateline --> — The Bloc Québécois called yesterday for the partition of Team Canada, proposing the creation of a Quebec-only hockey team that would field some of the world's best goaltenders in top international competitions.

The project is far-fetched, but it would stand to have a greater impact on the Canadian psyche than any other Bloc proposal short of independence.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe made the announcement as he unveiled the Bloc's election platform in Montreal. He said he was inspired by the situation in soccer and rugby, in which political entities such as Scotland and Wales field teams that are distinct from the English side, with no joint team from the United Kingdom.

"What I've noticed over the years is that in the World Cup of soccer . . . Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their teams. Same thing in rugby, same thing in other federations for other sports," Mr. Duceppe said. "I don't see why it couldn't happen in a Canadian context."
The Bloc Leader said that non-countries are usually not allowed to compete in the Olympics, but he said that some sports federations allow the situation to occur in various world cups.

Mr. Duceppe salivated at Team Quebec's trio between the pipes, with New Jersey Devil Martin Brodeur, Florida Panther Roberto Luongo and Montreal Canadien Jose Theodore. He said he will announce the rest of his dream team as the campaign goes along, but other contenders would include high-scoring forwards such as Philadelphia Flyer Simon Gagne and Colorado Avalanche Alex Tanguay.

But one potential star on Team Quebec said last night he is perfectly happy with the current situation.

"Well, Canada is a country, so that's my answer," said forward Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"I'm part of Team Canada and Canada as a whole.

"I'm proud to be Canadian."

During his news conference yesterday Mr. Duceppe promised he would continue to discuss the new team.

"Today, I've answered on goalies," he said. "I'll talk about defence tomorrow."

The rest of the Bloc platform deals with more serious issues, such as the need to toughen ethics rules in Ottawa, increase federal transfers to the provinces to fund education, and provide greater economic support to rural areas.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Duceppe lashed out at Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's proposal to reopen the debate on same-sex marriage. Mr. Harper said earlier this week that he will put forward a motion in the House of Commons calling on all MPs to state whether the traditional definition of marriage should be brought back, earning the scorn of Mr. Duceppe.

"It's his choice, but it represents a number of values that I don't even come close to sharing. I don't understand Mr. Harper's decision to reopen the debate. I thought it was decided," Mr. Duceppe said.

When same-sex legislation came to a vote in the House this year, 44 Bloc MPs voted in favour, while five Bloc MPs voted against it.

Next time around, Mr. Duceppe could force all of his MPs to vote with him if he feels that the Conservative motion entails the use of the notwithstanding clause to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Most constitutional experts have argued that a law redefining marriage as the union of a man and a woman would likely be quashed by the Supreme Court.

Mr. Duceppe also played down the arrival of Liberal candidate astronaut Marc Garneau in the riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, west of Montreal.

"We don't choose [our opponents], we beat them," Mr. Duceppe said.

With a report from David Shoalts in Tampa Bay

TEAM QUEBEC

Hockey columnist Eric Duhatschek picks a potential roster of Quebec-born players

GOALIES: Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Jose Theodore

DEFENCE: Eric Desjardins, Denis Gauthier, Patrice Brisebois, Stephane Robidas, Francis Bouillon, Mathieu Dandenault

FORWARDS: Mario Lemieux, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Simon Gagne, Alex Tanguay, Patrice Bergeron, Daniel Briere, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Marc Chouinard, Mike Ribiero, Ian Laperriere, Luc Robitaille

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booze said:

not a bad roster at all!

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WildBill said:

Those guys wouldn't play for just Quebec unless they were forced to do it. St. Louis is pretty much speaking for the rest, only bitter Quebecois spew that line of not wanting to be recognized as a Canadian. This squad of millionaires, does anyone really think they aren't proud to be Canadian?

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