There's clearly no question in Landry's mind that this is the absolute truth. But the more he goes on about the nation thing, the more it sounds merely like Landry's version. Political scientists say there is no single litmus test for what constitutes a nation. By some standards, Quebec rates a nation. By others, it doesn't, and calling it so is as much a matter of opinion as a matter of fact.
Nation is a political concept that can be applied in various ways.
Quebecers on the whole have a more strongly developed sense of national identity based on their province than other Canadians, he said. They tend to have the same sentiment toward their province as people have to their countries in Europe. You could say that maybe they're not a nation, but they behave like they were a nation. But even if Quebec can legitimately be called a nation, it doesn't by definition impart a right or a justification for separation, Lachapelle said. The answer to that is clear, it's no.