The Bloc chooses Quebec at a time when Quebecers look elsewhere

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QUEBEC CITY – The Bloc Québécois platform, unveiled Saturday, brings back the word “independence.” It’s only used once, but the spirit is clear.

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The Bloc’s 35 pages of proposals are “made out of love for our nation, but also out of duty” to “build the Quebec of tomorrow: an independent Quebec,” it reads.

Yet, today’s Quebec seems to be looking somewhere else to park its vote, and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet senses it. He hears it on the ground: Quebecers are overwhelmingly leaning toward the Liberals. Some are looking to vote Conservative.

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Even separatists or nationalists, deeply attached to the French language and Quebec values, seem ready to vote for an anglophone to lead the country.

“I have absolutely no fears about the rest of the campaign. I believe the Bloc Québécois is running a campaign that fully satisfies me and that is likely to appeal to Quebecers who are not ready to give anyone a blank mandate,” said Blanchet at a press conference.

The platform “Choose Quebec” is mostly about how the Bloc would push the government to have a Quebec delegation chosen by the province to negotiate the next trade deal with the United States.

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The Bloc will support counter-tariffs, as well as programs to help enterprises and workers who are being hit by tariffs, the platform says.

The party promises to fight tooth and nail against any possible concessions that would hurt the French language, supply management, and the lumber and aluminum industries.

It also speaks against any pipelines on Quebec soil.

“The challenge to embrace with enthusiasm now … is to bring it to life and anchor it everywhere, in businesses, in homes, in families, so that these people see what we are proposing,” Blanchet declared Saturday.

The Liberals were quick to undermine the Bloc’s political platform, claiming it fails to answer “the fundamental question of how they can defend the interests of Quebec workers when they will never leave the opposition.”

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“By almost entirely removing independence from their platform, the Bloc also recognizes the advantage of being part of a broader coalition to address the economic challenges we face,” said Guillaume Bertrand, a Liberal campaign spokesperson.

The Conservative party did not provide any comment on the Bloc’s pitch to Quebecers.

Bloc members had previously met in Sherbrooke to adopt the platform. The party also announced its full slate of 78 candidates in the province.

When Parliament dissolved, the Bloc had 33 seats, the same number as the Liberals from Quebec.

National Post
atrepanier@postmedia.com 

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