OTTAWA - Liberal MP Garth Turner has come under fire for blasting Quebec sovereigntists on his blog as "balkanizing separatist losers."
Turner, who represents the Toronto-area riding of Halton, wrote a blog on Thursday praising Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's plan to defend his environmental policies against Tory attacks.
"You might not agree with everything the man says, but you have to admire this about him," Turner wrote. "He stood up once to the self-aggrandizing, hostile, me-first, greedy, macho, selfish and balkanizing separatist losers in Quebec.
"I guess he can do it again in Alberta."
As former prime minister Jean Chretien's unity minister in the late'90s, Dion drafted the Clarity Act, which set out stringent guidelines for Canada accepting a Yes result in any Quebec sovereignty referendum.
Turner said in an interview Friday he had spoken to Dion but refused to say whether his leader reprimanded him.
"He (Dion) said he believes it is important not to act the way the prime minister is acting," Turner told The Canadian Press.
"I will admit I probably used words that are inflammatory and possibly I went too far. But if I've insulted people...then obviously I have gone too far.
"In my enthusiasm, I perhaps have misspoken myself. You know what? I have a sad history of doing that."
Turner said he was trying to show that Dion has in the past faced large odds in trying to promote his vision and his view.
"I was trying to draw a comparison between the courage that it took Mr. Dion during the national unity debate to stand up to those with a strong separatist agenda, and the courage that it's taking him now, obviously, to stand up to those who would talk about separatism in the West."
Turner said he would not remove the remarks from his blog but would clarify them.
In Calgary where he is attending the Stampede, Dion said he had spoken to Turner and his colleague had retracted the statement.
"Garth explained himself. He needed to," Dion said. "We want to have a very respectful debate. As for Quebec separatists, I consider them as our fellow citizens and we need to convince them to stay in Canada."
Action democratique du Quebec Leader Mario Dumont said he was "bowled over" when he found out what Turner had said on the blog.
"Mr. Turner presents Stephane Dion as a man of courage for standing up to Quebecers who are described in horrible terms," Dumont said.
"The Liberal leader must impose sanctions for these shocking comments which are insulting to Quebecers."
NDP Leader Jack Layton also took exception to the remarks.
"One can disagree with sovereigntists but this kind of contempt has no place in politics," Layton said. "After the sponsorship scandal, one would expect more respect from the Liberal party toward Quebecers.
"Such comments really don't help to create winning conditions for Canada in Quebec."
Turner, 59, was a Conservative when he was first elected to the Commons in'88. He served briefly as revenue minister and ran unsuccessfully for the Tory leadership in'93 and lost in the general election that year.
He was re-elected as a Conservative in 2006 but was ejected from the Tory caucus later that year and joined the Liberals in 2007.
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