TORONTO — Canada’s opposition Liberal party said yesterday it will support Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s motion recognising Quebec as a nation within Canada, adding more political weight to a motion that has escalated tension surrounding the long-divisive issue.The support came a day after Harper, pre-empting the separatist Bloc Quebecois party, stunned Parliament with the motion that calls Quebec a “nation within a united Canada.” The move left some supporters cheering it as a bold political step while critics slammed it as a political smoke screen and a recipe for tearing apart the country.

The Bloc Quebecois introduced their motion yesterday, hours after the Liberals had voiced support for Haper’s initiative. Their motion, however, does not refer to a united Canada, but says Quebec is a nation “currently within Canada.”

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe yesterday told the House of Commons that Harper’s motion was a clumsy attempt to “pull the wool over the public’s eyes”.

“When he attaches that condition, we can see through it that it’s just a partisan tactic,” Duceppe said, kicking off a spirited debate. “I hope that the prime minister will recognise the Quebec nation, period.”

The flap has reignited passions over whether the French-speaking province should be given independence. Quebecers have twice voted down referendums seeking independence from Canada; the last one was narrowly defeated in 1995.

“Do Quebecers form a nation within a united Canada? The answer is yes,” Harper on Wednesday told a cheering House of Commons to numerous standing ovations. “Do Quebecers form an independent nation? The answer is no — and it will always be no.”

Harper said the Bloc Quebecois motion was an “unusual request” that could lead to another referendum for Quebec independence.

While most Liberal agreed to support the Conservative government’s motion, some from the opposition party emerged unhappy with the decision.

Liberal Jim Karygiannis said he would vote against Harper’s counter-declaration, stressing he was worried that other groups in Canada would seek nation status.

Liberal Senator Serge Joyal agreed with Karygiannis.

“When you introduce the concept of nation in Canada then you the open door to the Acadian nation, the (indigenous) First Nation, to all the other groups,” Joyal said. “Newfoundland could be a nation. It has a long history of its own.”

But the support of the majority of Liberals means that Conservative motion will likely pass next week. The two parties control almost three-quarters of the seats in the House of Commons.

“We are going to vote for a Quebec that forms a part of a united Canada,” interim Liberal leader Bill Graham said. “This is a matter on which the Liberal Party of Canada, which has had a great role in building this country, will be voting in favour of. .... We will not be voting for a concept dictated by the Bloc Qu Deb Decois.”

The issue resurfaced when Michael Ignatieff, a front-runner for the Liberal Party leadership, said the French language, history and culture mark Quebecers as a separate people who should be recognised as a nation under the Constitution.

Newspaper editorials weighed in on the issue yesterday, with the liberal Toronto Star saying that Harper’s “intervention” in the debate simply fuels it.

“The surprise bombshell that Harper dropped yesterday ... will never placate Quebec separatists, even as it potentially weakens Canada by handing them another argument the next time — and there almost certainly will be a ‘next time’ — they seek to break up this country,” said the newspaper.

“Harper’s unwise intervention in this debate promises to embolden separatists and create division and bitterness.”

The Quebec wing of the Liberals adopted a resolution last month recognising Quebec as a nation “within Canada” and called for the creation of a task force to advise the next leader on how to make that status official.

Harper’s motion, which is being debated, comes as his Tories languish in third place in Quebec polls, behind the Bloc Quebecois and the Liberals. The Tories gained seats in Quebec in the last election and need more from Quebec if they want to form a majority government in the next election. On the provincial government level, the response to the motion was guarded. Alberta Premier Ralph Klein dismissed Harper’s announcement, saying he had no idea what the prime minister’s motivation was and that it “might be politics.”

“First of all it’s not legislation,” Klein said. “He can say what he wants to say, as I say what I want to say from time to time, and until it’s legislation, there’s no need to worry about it.”

Manitoba Premier Gary Doer appeared to not be supportive of Harper’s motion.

“To me Canada is one nation, one country,” said Doer. “I understand Quebec is unique in terms of language, culture and law, but Canada is one country.”