“The spectacle of the weekend in Quebec was sometimes unreal and rarely credible,” said Yves-François Blanchet in response to the attacks his party was subjected to during the conservative Congress.
What bothers me and what I won’t let go of are the lies.
, he stressed before his meeting in Sherbrooke to prepare for his return to the House of Commons. He was referring to the carbon tax that Pierre Poilievre now describes as a “Trudeau-Blanchet” tax. The Conservative leader suggests that the bill at the pump for Quebecers will increase. However, the tax is not applied in Quebec, recalls the leader of the bloc.
Blanchet believes this could set the tone for parliamentary work resuming next week in Ottawa. In an interview with Radio-Canada, she warns that relations between the Bloc Québécois and the Conservative Party will be reduced to a minimum.
There is a directive to my parliamentary leader that we will do whatever it takes to make Parliament work, but they have nothing to expect from us. They behave like bullies and we find that completely unacceptable.
he explains.
I hope that we are able to move away from demagoguery and jokes and that we do not repeat the shameful exercise of the conservatives.
The leader of the bloc will take advantage of his meeting to remind his deputies that they must avoid falling into the trap of the easy answer. Behind the scenes, however, some say they are thirsty for revenge and would like to be able to respond more sharply to conservative attacks.
Yves François Blanchet himself admits that he will have to restrain himself. I am capable of doing populism. I am capable of saying the phrase that hurts, but I must not do it, I must contain myself, we must not go into that.
Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
The Quebec bloc will therefore find itself on the defensive, a position to which it is not accustomed, emphasizes Éric Montigny, professor of political science at Laval University.
What we understand is that there are two lines of attack that we see emerging from the conservative side: the constitutional position of the Bloc, which is more affirmed than before, and we will have to see how the Bloc stands out in the economy.
According to voters’ perception, economic issues are less associated with the Quebec bloc than with the parties called to govern, Montigny recalls.
And if the Bloc Québécois is in the Conservatives’ crosshairs, it is also because polls show that in Quebec there is resistance to the rise of the Conservatives, the professor emphasizes. The Conservatives have made progress in several regions of Canada and the only regions that are resisting are the areas where the Bloc is present. The message sent by the conservatives is that they also want to make progress in this regard.
No collaboration
Yves-François Blanchet attributes these attacks to the latest polls that place the Conservatives in third place in voting intentions in Quebec.
This means that it recognizes that, among French speakers in Quebec, we have double the voting intention and that people recognize each other more.
, alleges the leader of the block. But it is impossible to ignore that Pierre Poilievre has the wind at his back in the rest of Canada. The leader of the Bloc Québécois, who spoke a few months ago of a fictitious scenario, can no longer ignore today the possibility of finding himself with the balance of power in a conservative minority government.
And collaboration promises to be difficult, he admits. It takes a little longer to start negotiations if people insult s
he said. It will be little by little, outside the possibility of an agreement like that of the Liberals and the NDP.
concludes.
