Tory minister Lebel explains past sovereigntist ties

A member of Stephen Harper's cabinet from Quebec has confirmed his past association with the sovereignty movement.

Transport Minister Denis Lebel, who represents the riding of Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean and also serves as the minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency for Quebec, has confirmed he was a member of the Bloc Québécois for eight years, from July 23, 1993 to April 28, 2001.

Lebel's Bloc Québécois membership has resurfaced in light of last week's revelation that interim NDP leader Nycole Turmel held memberships in the Bloc as well as a provincial political party that supports sovereignty, Quebec Solidaire.

Lebel says he disclosed his past membership to the voters in his riding, and that he joined the BQ while he was active in community organizations in Roberval.

His past membership in the sovereigntist party was disclosed when he first ran for the Conservative party in a byelection in fall 2007. At the time, he also disclosed that he had donated to the Liberal party.

"I have been a Conservative since Mr. Harper recognized the Québécois nation," Lebel said in an interview with Montreal daily The Gazette at the time. "Recognition of the Québécois nation is very important. I am a nationalist and I will always be."

The decision to recognize the Québécois as a nation was one of the first controversies of Harper's tenure as prime minister. The motion passed overwhelmingly in the House of Commons in November 2006, but it cost Harper his then-intergovernmental affairs minister, Michael Chong, who resigned.

Although he was a member, Lebel denies being "active" in the Bloc, although he admits to participating in partisan activities and donating a few hundred dollars to the BQ's fundraising efforts.

"I've never done activism. Never, never, never," he insisted in a statement to Radio-Canada on Friday.

Roberval is in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, an area well-known as a hotbed of Quebec nationalism. Former Bloc Québécois leaders Michel Gauthier and Lucien Bouchard represented the region.

"You know how it works in our region. When you're in the middle of things in Lac-Saint-Jean and you're president of just about everything that moves, you're often called by people," Lebel's statement explains.

Lebel says part of the reason he joined the party was to have better access to Gauthier.

Alain Pelletier, a former political organizer for Gauthier in the region, confirmed Lebel never really campaigned for the party. "Mr. Lebel has encouraged rather than fought. He was not really present in the organization," he told Radio-Canada.

Lebel is not the first cabinet minister to serve in the federal government despite belonging to a sovereigntist political party in the past.

Liberal Jean Lapierre was one of the founding members of the Bloc Québécois after the failure of the Meech Lake Accord in 1990. He did not run for re-election in 1993, and went into broadcasting.

Prime Minister Paul Martin lured him out of political retirement to run again for the Liberals in a Montreal byelection in 2004, and he served in Martin's cabinet and as the former prime minister's Quebec lieutenant up until the Liberals' defeat to Harper's Conservatives in 2006.

Lebel insists that his commitment to Canada remains unequivocal.

"The choice I made is to represent Quebec in a large united country that is Canada," his statement reads.

Turmel has been a magnet for criticism ever since her past memberships in sovereignty-supporting political parties came to light.

Lebel told Radio-Canada his commitment is "unequivocal," unlike his impression of Turmel's.

The interim NDP leader says she is a federalist, and the NDP has confirmed that she voted against sovereignty in Quebec's referendums.

The Prime Minister's Office declined comment when asked whether Lebel was ever a separatist, and how he voted in the 1995 referendum. Lebel's office has yet to respond.

Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper characterized Turmel's political past as "disappointing."

"I think Canadians expect that any political party that wants to govern the country be unequivocally committed to this country," Harper said. "And I think that's the minimum Canadians expect."