Warning: Today's column is about my love of Canada and sheer and utter disdain for separatists, be they Quebec-based or anywhere else in our great country. The stunning display of the ignorance and hypocrisy of the Bloc Quebecois (BQ) was on full display during Question Period on this past Thursday.

There I was watching QP and in a heated exchange between federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Stephane Dion and Trois-Rivieres BQ MP Yves Rocheleau, Mr. Rocheleau stated: "Mr. Speaker, for the minister's information, I am not a Canadian."

My jaw dropped to the floor. In the heat of the debate, we all say silly things, but this zinger goes kilometers beyond silly-ville. Then the Prime Minister jumped up like it was his first day in Parliament in 1963 and rightly pounced on Mr. Rocheleau pointing out that he has no qualms about collecting is Canadian paycheque.

Since Mr. Rocheleau, who is a Canadian - contrary to his protestations otherwise - wants to deny reality, it is my solemn duty as your humble scribe to pose several pressing questions to Mr. Rocheleau in absentia.

Mr. Rocheleau, what flag is on your paycheque and paystub? I've checked with MPs from the Liberal, Progressive Conservative, Canadian Alliance and NDP, and all inform me that it is the red maple leaf that adorns their paystub. Mr. Rocheleau, am I to believe that your paystub is different and adorned with something else?

Mr. Rocheleau, have you ever traveled on a House of Commons junket to a foreign country? Or have you ever taken a vacation stateside, in the Caribbean or Europe? What is the name of the country embossed in gold on the front of your passport? Is it Quebec or Canada?

Mr. Rocheleau, when you retire from Parliament and when you turn 55, who will be paying your MP pension? Am I too assume that since you mistakenly believe you are not a Canadian, then Canadians in turn don't have to work hard to pay taxes for your pension?

Mr. Rocheleau, you live in what is defined as a have-not province? But since you are, as you say, not a Canadian, then am I too assume that taxpayers in Ontario and Alberta (Canada's two have provinces) no longer need to send equalization payments via Ottawa for health care, education and other services in your province and riding?

Mr. Rocheleau, as a Canadian citizen, it is your constitutional right to speak out and say silly things. But since we are drawing close to Remembrance Day, what country's soldiers do you think fought, sacrificed and died for your freedom to say such silly things?

Some Quebeckers have sent BQ members to Parliament since 1993, as is their right to do so. Yours truly has a great empathy for the aspirations of Quebeckers, Albertans and Canadians in other parts of the country that have legitimate and enduring grievances with the federal government's intrusion in constitutionally protected areas of provincial jurisdiction. And you will find no argument from this scribe/activist, that federal-provincial relations have been stretched to the limit during the last decade of an arrogant Chretien administration.

However, the solution is not to pack up one's marbles, pout profusely and threaten to break up the country, whether you live in Quebec, Alberta or downtown Toronto. Rather, the solution lies in turning one's energies toward Confederation and offering policy solutions and institutional changes to improve, modernize and build a stronger and united Canada.

Canadians, French and English, did this very thing some 136 years ago at the founding of our country. And this 1867 remedy is still the best course of action in to follow in the 21st century. Here's a newsflash for Mr. Rocheleau: It's the Canadian way, even in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.