Ottawa

Duceppe’s version

John Geddes has related a recent conversation he had with the Bloc Quebecois leader.

After the government side made much of the story today, Mr. Duceppe also discussed the issue—and what happened between he and Stephen Harper in 2004—with reporters after QP. Here are his English comments.

No, I mean, all those people are talking about the book. They didn’t even read it, so it is quite particular. Stephen Harper should read the letter he wrote with me and signed asking the then governor-general Adrienne Clarkson to replace Paul Martin if he was to lose confidence in the House.  Harper signed that and Harper negotiated with me in my office what I read in a speech from the throne if he was to replace Paul Martin in 2004.

Now having said that, the first one to talk about coalition was Jack Layton ten days after the election in my office in Montreal and then the day the – we start working on that, I called first of all Stéphane Dion, telling him that I would be open to support, to support that, support a coalition. Then I talked at 7:00 a.m., I called Mr. Layton at 7:15 a.m. and then Elizabeth May at 7:30, saying I did become with something that fits to all, to us, we will support that and they came with – most of the proposals were things we proposed a few days before publicly and including an infrastructure plan. So all those stupid things saying by Lebel today that we were against that, we were the ones who support – who proposed that at first. I discussed that with Harper before, that ideological statement made by Mr. Flaherty and in the budget in January, they copied that. No problem with that.

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