Their future meetings risk being a lot frostier, but Quebec Premier Pauline Marois said her first encounter with Stephen Harper was "excellent."
"Very positive, very cordial, I'd say even almost warm," was how Marois described her 30-minute meeting with the prime minister on Saturday.
The venue for the get-together was neither Ottawa nor Quebec City but rather Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo where the two are attending this weekend's summit of la Francophonie.
Marois suggested that agreements will be possible between her sovereigntist government and Ottawa despite their widely divergent political views.
The comments represent a departure from the strong rhetoric of the recent provincial election campaign, when Marois' sovereigntist Parti Quebecois made it clear it would seek more powers from Ottawa - and then claim federalism didn't work if it didn't get them.
The PQ has been singing a more conciliatory tune, though, since taking power with a minority government. Earlier this week, the PQ's intergovernmental affairs minister promised Quebec would "act in good faith" and "with a lot of pragmatism" when dealing with the federal government.
In Kinshasa, the two leaders discussed various issues including Old Harry, asbestos and the free-trade deal between Canada and Europe.
Old Harry is an area in the northeastern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence that is estimated to hold up to two billion barrels of recoverable oil - twice the size of Hibernia, east of St. John's.
As for asbestos, the PQ government has scrapped plans to revive the province's last mine, leading federal Industry Minister Christian Paradis to blame the PQ for killing the industry.
Tougher issues such as Quebec's desire to repatriate employment insurance were not on the agenda. Harper did not speak to reporters after the meeting and left the hotel by a back door.
