The degree to which Stéphane Dion played a role in the recent Conservative motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation came under scrutiny Wednesday after Prime Minister Stephen Harper told CBC News the pair never directly discussed the issue.

It had been widely reported in the days immediately before and following Dion's win at the Liberal leadership convention in early December that Dion had been among the Liberals consulted.

'If I can be blunt, but both of those things are untrue. I never spoke to Mr. Dion: that's not correct.'-Stephen Harper

Before successfully introducing a motion on Nov. 22 that recognized the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada, the prime minister sought consensus on the issue. He wanted to co-opt Bloc Québécois efforts to pass their own motion.

In an interview airing Wednesday on CBC News, Harper was asked why he chose not to consult with his own minister of intergovernmental affairs — Michael Chong, who later resigned over the motion — but rather with Dion.

"If I can be blunt, but both of those things are untrue. I never spoke to Mr. Dion: that's not correct," Harper responded.

He said he did consult interim Liberal leader Bill Graham and NDP Leader Jack Layton.

Stephen Harper, in an interview with CBC's Don Newman, on Wednesday. Harper said Dion was not personally involved in consultations he had with the Liberal Party.
(CBC)

"I spoke to Mr. Graham, I never spoke to Mr. Dion … and I spoke to Mr. Layton," he told the CBC.

Harper credited Graham for being "a great player" during the process but said he didn't explicitly ask Graham about Dion's opinion on the issue, nor did he ever phone or e-mail Dion.

Rather, the prime minister said, he impressed upon Graham the need for consensus among the Liberal leadership contenders.

Of the four front-runners in the Liberal leadership race, only Gerard Kennedy said he outright opposed the motion, which passed 266-16.

Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae and Dion supported it, but each criticized its depth and meaning.

While in Winnipeg to discuss the Canadian Wheat Board, Stephane Dion said he never pretended to have talked personally with Harper about the motion.
(CBC)

Dion accuses Harper of 'playing games'

Meanwhile, Dion seemed to downplay the apparent discrepancy over his involvement on Wednesday, though he did accuse Harper of "playing games."

'He did not phone me personally, and nobody pretended that.'-Stéphane Dion

"He did not phone me personally, and nobody pretended that," said Dion, who was in Winnipeg to express his support for the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly on marketing wheat and barley in the wake of Ottawa's decision to fire the agency's president a day earlier.

Dion said he had a few extensive phone calls on the issue with one of Harper's senior advisers, Mark Cameron.

Cameron previously advised Dion when the latter was the Liberal intergovernmental affairs minister.

Dion and Harper have been in agreement publicly this week on one issue — that only being Canadian, and not Québécois, carries a legal definition.