In federal-provincial relations, as in life, one rarely gets a second chance to make a good first impression. Quebec Premier François Legault is apparently on a mission to validate that truism at his own expense.

A little more than 100 days since his government’s swearing-in, Legault is fast earning the reputation of a bull in the federal-provincial china shop. So far he has more broken glass than anything else to show for his approach.

On his first federal-provincial appearance at last December’s first ministers’ conference, Legault got off on the wrong foot with a number of his fellow premiers by cavalierly dismissing their pro-pipeline agenda.

The Coalition Avenir Québec government would not support the resurrection of the Energy East pipeline project, the premier said, for lack of Quebec’s acceptance of “dirty” oil.

A bridge-building opening act, it most certainly was not.

Since then, Legault has earned the public reprobation of Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister for presenting the prime minister with a take-it-or-leave-it list of demands overtly designed to trigger a pre-federal election bidding war between the parties. Subtlety is not the rookie premier’s strong suit.

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Over the past two weeks, Justin Trudeau has flatly refused two of those demands.

First, he nixed Legault’s proposal that Ottawa hand over the collection of the federal income tax to the province.

That would allow Quebec — the only province that has a separate provincial income tax collecting infrastructure — to move to a single tax return. But adjusting the federal regime to fit the Quebec fiscal framework may be easier said than done. Some experts fear it could lead to a two-tier national income tax system.

The New Democrats were initially favourable to the move but backed off after the public service unions pointed out that the closure of the Quebec fiscal centres that currently process income tax files from across Canada would result in severe job losses within the province’s federal workforce.

Alone of the three main federal parties, Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives would acquiesce to Legault’s proposal. That stance played to mixed reviews outside Quebec.

The second Quebec-Ottawa clash came Thursday, on the heels of the presentation in the national assembly of an immigration bill that would impose new conditions on immigrants to that province before they could obtain the status of permanent residents from the federal government.

Among those conditions would be a commitment to live in regions outside Montreal. The bill also gives the province new powers to “accompany and verify” the learning of the French language and Quebec values.

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The proposal would require a change in federal citizenship regulations, and Trudeau rejected that possibility out of hand.

It would be controversial for any national party to embrace a policy that would allow a provincial government to impose a different set of rules on the immigrants it takes in than those Ottawa applies in the rest of the country. So far, neither of the main opposition parties has stepped up to the plate.

Stung by two consecutive federal refusals, Legault responded with talk of ominous electoral consequences for the ruling Liberals this fall. But he may be overplaying his hand at the risk of unintended consequences for his party.

Much as Quebecers would be happy to file only one tax return, the inconvenience of filing two forms is unlikely to be a ballot-box issue. And more than a few voters are not sold on Legault’s immigration policy. Lest the premier forget, it was a prominent item in the CAQ platform that saw more than 60 per cent of Quebecers vote for other parties in the provincial election.

Meanwhile, as tensions rise between the two capitals, so do sovereigntist hopes that the advent of a CAQ government could turn out to be just what the flagging cause of Quebec independence needs.

At this rate, the main benefactor — if any — of Legault’s escalating war of words stands to be the Bloc Québécois.

It is far from certain that would be a positive development for the premier. A return of the polarization along the sovereigntist/federalist divide could tear apart Legault’s electoral coalition.

Old habits die hard: The confrontational style that is fast becoming the signature feature of the premier’s approach to Quebec/Ottawa relations may reflect the instincts of the former sovereigntist strategists who make up part of the CAQ brain trust.

Or it may just reflect Legault’s relative ignorance of the federal-provincial dynamics. Unlike predecessors such as Jean Charest or Lucien Bouchard, he did not spend his formative political years on Parliament Hill.

The official rationale on offer is that the premier is trying to make the most of the honeymoon phase of the CAQ’s tenure. Be that as it may, when it comes to the larger national scene, the bloom is fast coming off the rose.

Chantal Hébert is a columnist based in Ottawa covering politics. Follow her on Twitter: @ChantalHbert

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