Stephen Harper publishes his memoirs, Here for Canada

In the book, out Tuesday, the former prime minister recounts how the House of Commons came to recognize in 2006 that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada.

At first

Harper writes that he was at first cold to the idea: he had promised in the 2006 election not to reopen the Constitution, and he saw a debate on Quebec as a nation as helping only the separatists.

He changed his mind once he saw the recognition was purely symbolic: a parliamentary motion, not a constitutional amendment or even a bill. He also writes that the word "nation" means a country to most English speakers, but a cultural identity to many French speakers.

The Conservative motion added four words to the Bloc Québécois version, "within a united Canada," which Harper says made it an affirmation of Canadian unity. Parliament adopted the Conservative motion.