Blanchet’s Bloc in a position to milk the Liberals for all they’re worth

The last time Canadians outside Quebec paid any attention to Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet was during the English-language leaders’ debate during the 2021 election. During that debate, moderator Shachi Kurl asked him, “You deny that Quebec has problems with racism, yet you defend legislation such as Bills 96 and 21, which marginalize religious minorities, anglophones, and allophones. Quebec is recognized as a distinct society, but for those outside the province, please help them understand why your party also supports these discriminatory laws?” Blanchet delivered the perfect response—a solid dose of outrage that played well with the only audience that matters to him and his party: Quebec nationalists. To anglophone audiences, Blanchet can sometimes seem like a fish out of water. Here is the leader of a federal political party, yet his primary goal is Quebec’s separation from the federation. And although Blanchet has a strong command of English, the expressions he uses can sound awkward at times. Now that the Liberal-NDP deal is dead, he's getting more coverage given his new power to keep the minority government afloat. Still, one of his more recent declarations offers a particularly fitting metaphor for the position he now finds himself in: "We are playing chicken with four cars. Eventually, one will hit another one, and there will be a wreckage." Blanchet and the Bloc now hold the kind of power and influence for which they were created. It wasn’t always that way. The party struggled for legitimacy in Quebec after a succession of less inspiring leaders following Lucien Bouchard and Gilles Duceppe. But today, the Bloc has established itself as a bridge between Quebec City and Ottawa, forming what could be called the axis of independence—a close working relationship between the Parti Québécois and the Bloc Québécois. Though the PQ and the Bloc cater to the same nationalist constituents, they swim in different lanes. Recent PQ leaders have shied away from using the words “referendum” and “independence,” but current leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (PSPP) has repeatedly stated his intention to call a referendum if elected. While much can happen between now and the next provincial election, polls suggest the PQ is poised to overtake the ailing CAQ and the Liberals, making PSPP the leader who could bring Quebec independence back into serious political discussion. The Bloc Québécois and Leader Yves-François Blanchet now hold the kind of power and influence for which they were created, writes Éric Blais. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Blanchet, on the other hand, primarily focuses on defending and promoting Quebec’s interests in Ottawa. If we were to create a word cloud of his speeches and declarations, terms like ‘demands,’ ‘extract,’ and ‘leverage’ would dominate, reflecting his strategic positioning in Parliament. The symbiotic relationship between the BQ and the PQ was on full display during and after the recent by-election in LaSalle–Émard–Verdun. PSPP attended Bloc rallies, and later declared that the narrow victory in this Liberal stronghold was historic victory for “indépendantistes.” This is what is often referred to as “confirmation bias” or “motivated reasoning”—interpreting facts or events to fit a pre-existing belief or agenda. It’s a common tactic in political framing, where results are spun to align with a particular narrative, regardless of what the data might objectively suggest. Polling data shows that a consistent percentage of Quebecers favour independence, but that number remains relatively low, especially among younger voters who seem disinterested in the cause. Still, it’s possible that what separatists call the “winning conditions” could materialize. Quebecers are famously fickle, as Premier François Legault knows all too well. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spent much of the summer touring Quebec ridings in an RV. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Meanwhile, the Conservatives are hoping to make inroads in Quebec, particularly in Montreal, where they aim to snatch the riding of Mount Royal from Liberal MP Anthony Housefather. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spent a significant portion of the summer—family in tow—touring Quebec ridings in an RV. But the charm offensive isn’t producing significant results. Most Quebecers seem allergic to Poilievre, despite his strong French. Even his decision to sit for interviews on Radio-Canada, the very network he has pledged to defund, hasn’t moved the needle. Poilievre’s message to Quebecers is largely the same as the one he delivers across the rest of Canada, with some regional tweaks. His “axe the tax” mantra, for instance, is translated into French as “couper les taxes et impôts,” (cut taxes and income taxes). But his attempt to brand the Bloc as the “Bloc-Libéral” by accusing them of consistently supporting the Liberals in Parliament feels like a strategic misstep. While the Conservatives hope this bit of co-branding will resonate now that the Liberals need Bloc support to stay in power, I wouldn’t bet on it. Blanchet is far more likely to milk the Liberals for all they’re worth. He just announced he has no plans to let this government fall when the Conservatives bring forward their promised confidence vote. A Bloc-Liberal partnership won’t be based on mutual respect or shared goals—it’s more akin to a common-law relationship, the kind that’s popular in Quebec, where two people live under the same roof for economic reasons long after the romance has faded. In this case, it’s a sort of sovereignty association, where both parties use each other for political leverage, without the trappings of formal union. Éric Blais is president of Headspace Marketing in Toronto. The Hill Times

Blanchet’s Bloc in a position to milk the Liberals for all they’re worth

A Bloc-Liberal partnership is like a common-law relationship, the kind that’s popular in Quebec where two people live together for economic reasons long after the romance has faded.

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Blanchet’s Bloc in a position to milk the Liberals for all they’re worth

A Bloc-Liberal partnership is like a common-law relationship, the kind that’s popular in Quebec where two people live together for economic reasons long after the romance has faded.

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