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“I say it’s time, actually, to have a closer look at the situation.”

Cauchon is not suggesting the constitutional can of worms be reopened any time soon, perhaps in 10 or 15 years.

But in the meantime, the federal government must adopt a more open, flexible, co-operative approach to federalism, he said, allowing provinces to assert more control over various areas of jurisdiction, as suits their needs.

Such an approach would be good for both the country and the Liberal party, he maintained.

“When (Quebecers) look at us, the Liberal Party of Canada, they look at a party that always stands for the Ottawa-knows-best type of approach,” he said.

“This is something they don’t like in Quebec and, as a matter of fact, they don’t like it in most of the provinces.”

Cauchon and Trudeau, a Montreal MP, locked horns over the national unity question during the final Liberal leadership debate in Montreal last weekend. Trudeau used his closing statement to reject the notion that special gestures are needed to placate Quebec.

“We’ve been doing that for 30 years and I think that we have to really now admit it doesn’t work,” he said.

“For far too long we’ve tried to buy Quebec, to buy them off rather than to get them involved … This is our real challenge. How are we going to bring everybody together and set aside old squabbles and quarrels?”

But Cauchon argued in the interview that Canada’s national unity will never be secure as long as Quebecers feel their aspirations aren’t reflected in the Constitution.