Canadian Liberal leader disparages PM

MONTREAL, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- The Canadian Liberal Party leader, Michael Ignatieff, said some in the government are pushing Quebecers to choose allegiance to Canada over Quebec.

Ignatieff said at a Montreal town hall meeting Monday that was live-streamed on the Internet that Quebecers are being subjected to "a form of tyranny" in that there is a national identity in Quebec, "something Quebecers have had forever," and they shouldn't have to make such a choice, the Montreal Gazette reported.

It is "the genius of Canadian federalism that you can be a Quebecer or Canadian in the order that suits you," Ignatieff said.

The meeting was part of a cross-country journey by the Liberal leader, who accused Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper of not being in touch with the public and for his "ridiculous" attack on the long-form census, his purchase of fighter planes without taking competitive bidding and his "incomprehensible" lowering of veteran's benefits, the Gazette reported.