It is hard to decide what is more outrageous about the pro-separatist booklet Parlons de souverainete a l’ecole — that federal money helped pay for it or that the thing was conceived for the indoctrination of children.

Either way, the 142-page document is repellent. It was created, evidently, to help Quebec school teachers counter so-called federalist propaganda, an example of which (according to at least one separatist) is the annual Terry Fox run. In our view, Terry Fox is a hero no matter what language you speak.

The book even suggests ways to politicize arts and crafts, thereby targeting pre-schoolers. As a decoration for St. Jean Baptiste Day, children are presented with a drawing of a Quebec flag juxtaposed with the two torn halves of a Canadian flag.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest rightly observed that this absurd booklet is reminiscent, in style and tone, of Soviet-era classroom materials. Even PQ leader Andre Boisclair said the pamphlet has no place in Quebec schools, though he did say it could help "provoke" public debate about independence. To us it simply shows how desperate the separatists are. They can’t convince informed grown-ups to leave Canada, so they’re going after Quebecers who still await their permanent teeth.

Amazingly, the province’s largest board of education has said it will "defer to the good judgment of our teachers" on whether to use the workbook as an "an educational tool."

What’s next ? A class pageant celebrating the October Crisis ?

To paraphrase Pink Floyd :
They don’t need no propaganda.