Harper seems to forget how the West was won.

Twenty five years ago Dick Culver, the one-time leader of the Saskatchewan Progressive Conservative Party, found himself marginalized politically and created a new party that, while it didn't go anywhere, did actually have two members of the Assembly. The party was called Unionest with a plan to have Saskatchewan withdraw from Canada and pursue becoming part of the United States.

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Although the idea was dismissed as being too absurd, there was a good reason Culver picked separation from all the issues of the day--it's one of those topics that is just under the surface. Western Canada's role in Confederation has long been a sensitive topic and Culver was only tapping into that latent feeling.

We saw it under Trudeau when he foisted the National Energy Program on the West. It was on display when we argued the West Wants In in the early days the Reform-Alliance-Conservatives. But, ironically today, a time when the West is seeing its power with Confederation rise, the prospect of western separation as a political force could be more potent than ever.

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Watching Prime Minister Harper's pursuit of a majority government--in other words, his bid to secure added support in Quebec--he finds himself asking his western supporters to sit on their hands while he searches for a plan that will deliver Quebec voters next time round.

He starts his news conferences in French these days. Actually, winning over Quebec has become the mantra of his government--the West will have to wait while we round up the votes needed to form a majority. It's a strategy that has all the potential to create a backlash in his own backyard as he woos the neighbours.

Consider the federal government's position at the world trade talks on agriculture. The Canadian Wheat Board, a Western Canadian entity, is on the block but supply management which is dear to Quebec is held as sacred. Is this the position of a western-based mindset? Is it even fair or simply a contradiction based on political expediency?

The long and the short of Canada's current political situation is simple. The West got its act together and voted in a block to back a western-based leader who became prime minister. The day after he was elected, Quebec became the centre of his attention while western concerns--things like Saskatchewan's equalization promise--are placed on the backburner.

Keep an eye on this one. It has the potential to get out of hand. For most of Western Canada's existence we've been playing second fiddle to central Canadian interests and, even with a western prime minister, things have not changed. Ontario and Quebec have the population to control the House of Commons and, consequently, political parties must cow-tow to them. And that's where Dick Culver's idea resurfaces.

One thing the West has sought, as a counterbalance to the eastern Canadian juggernaut, is senate reform. Give us an elected, effective and equal voice in the upper house. At last check, I haven't seen that one on

this government's agenda so it would appear to be, at best, a ways off or, more likely, a nonstarter. That's what Culver saw. He figured we had a better chance of getting Triple E senate representation as part of the United States.

As far-fetched as that may sound, we should not forget that the West offers something Quebec can not deliver on the separatism front--an independent West holds the prospect of linking the lower 48 states to Alaska. In a security-conscious world, that possibility alone may be appealing enough for Americans to actually entertain the notion of forging some sort of relation with Western Canada and its energy reserves.

If Quebec's threat of separation (not actually separating) has taught us anything, it attracts attention from the central government because no prime minister wants to be the one who presided over the breakup of the nation. The message to Harper and company should be clear--don't forget who brought you to the dance as you devote all your attention to scoring with another partner.

Paul Martin is heard daily on 980 CJME and 650 CKOM as well as on the radio stations of the Golden West Broadcasting network in Saskatchewan.