MONTREAL – Federal cabinet minister Maxime Bernier is suggesting the election of a Liberal government in Ottawa in 2015 would reignite the sovereigntist flames in Quebec.

Bernier says the independence option has traditionally been more popular in Quebec when the Liberals are in power at the federal level.

He argues that Liberal governments tend to encroach more upon areas of provincial jurisdiction.

The minister of state for tourism, agriculture and small business made the comments today after a speech to a business group in Montreal.

The MP also said Quebec should review its interventionist policies if it wants to generate wealth, regain some pride and rediscover its place in Canada.

He also said it is time for Quebec to stop begging the federal government.

Bernier said Quebec’s nationalist elite must get over certain events such as the British victory on the Plains of Abraham.

The federal minister also assailed the concept of chequebook federalism developed by former Liberal premier Robert Bourassa as a response to the independent discourse during the 1970s.

Bernier said for many Quebecers, that was the amount of money that could be squeezed from the rest of Canada.