Bloc Quebecois thwarts Conservative push in Quebec

Published Wednesday October 15th, 2008

MONTREAL - The Bloc Quebecois achieved its goal of keeping Prime Minister Stephen Harper from his desired majority government yesterday as all three main parties emerged from the Quebec political battlefield with virtually the same number of seats as in 2006.

It was a result that suited Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe just fine.

"My friends, we reached our goal -- to stop Harper from forming a majority government," he told cheering supporters in Montreal during a victory speech.

Stopping a Conservative majority was the Bloc mantra during the campaign, the first where the Bloc didn't focus on sovereignty as the reason it should have the support of Quebecers.

The Bloc clocked in just short of 50 seats as final votes were tallied, down from 51 in 2006. The Liberals won 13 and were leading in two others.

The Conservatives won 10 seats, the same as the last general election.

The Bloc took 38 per cent of the popular vote, while the Liberals garnered 24 per cent, the Conservatives 22 per cent and the NDP 12. The Green Party notched three per cent of the popular vote.

The NDP's Thomas Mulcair held Montreal-area Outremont and Independent Andre Arthur kept his riding of Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier near Quebec City.

Also in Montreal, a Trudeau was elected to the House of Commons for the first time since 1980, as Justin Trudeau, the eldest son of former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, won back Papineau riding for the Liberals.

Conservative International Trade Minister Michael Fortier went down to defeat but other Tory stars such as Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Heritage Minister Josee Verner and Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon were re-elected.

Conservative Beauce MP Maxime Bernier, who quit cabinet after he acknowledged he left confidential documents at his girlfriend's apartment, romped to victory in Beauce riding.

The Conservatives considered a breakthrough in Quebec key to winning a majority and had wooed the province during their time in office.

Please Log In or Register FREE

You are currently not logged into this site. Please log in or register for a FREE ONE Account.

Logged in visitors may comment on articles, enter contests, manage home delivery holds and much more online. Your ONE Account grants you access to features and content across the entire CanadaEast Network of sites.