If the Parti Quebecois had its way, the province of Quebec would be sovereign — and a whole lot bigger..Or at least that’s how it seemed on Wednesday, when the separatist Quebec party tweeted out an image that mistakenly showed the area of Labrador as a part of Quebec..The Tweet was initially about National Assembly MP Sylvain Gaudreault’s proposed bill that would affirm the primacy of Quebec’s jurisdiction in environmental matters..The intended focus of the Tweet was lost in a sea of replies questioning the map’s borders. “Except that this map does not represent the territory of Quebec,” replied Queen’s University professor Stéphanie Chouinard..“Oops! Hello @NLtweets,” replied Parliamentary Correspondent for Le Journal de Québec Marc-André Gagnon..“The chances of a Quebecois invasion of Labrador is low, but never zero,” wrote Polling Canada..Newfoundland’s ownership of Labrador can be traced back to the commission issued to Governor Thomas Graves in 1763, which extended his jurisdiction to the “Coasts of Labrador.” A dispute concerning the ownership of Labrador arose in 1902 when the Québec government protested Newfoundland’s issuing of a timber license on the Churchill River. .The border dispute continued until the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London affirmed Newfoundland’s hold over Labrador in 1927. After Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949, its boundary in Labrador was settled and no further disputes arose..In a follow-up tweet written six hours later, Parti Quebecois acknowledged the error and claimed it would begin selling T-Shirts with an expanded Quebec. “Your interest in the Quebec map delights us! We have therefore decided to put this new sweater on sale on our shop. Coming soon!”.The government of Newfoundland and Labrador has not yet commented on this challenge to its borders..Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
