Blanchet was answering a question in English about Carney’s understanding of Quebec
Blanchet was answering a question in English about Carney’s understanding of Quebec
OTTAWA — Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet has a beef with Liberal Leader Mark Carney over his attachment to Quebec and the fact that he “doesn’t like (Quebecers) so much.”
“He doesn’t give a damn,” Blanchet said at a press conference in Montreal on Monday morning.
Blanchet was answering a question in English about Carney’s understanding of Quebec, the country’s only official French-speaking province.
“I don’t feel the love. I don’t feel interest for Quebec. I don’t feel interest for the differences. I don’t feel interest for the language. I don’t feel interest for the culture. I don’t feel interest for anything which is Quebec,” he said.
Blanchet said he felt Carney didn’t want to speak French and that it seemed to annoy him. He also lamented the fact that, according to him, Carney “doesn’t pronounce the words lumber,” “aluminum,” “fisheries,” and “aerospace,” which are all essential sectors in the province.
The Liberal Party of Canada did not react to Blanchet’s comments.
This attack comes as the Liberals are gaining popularity in Quebec. All polls place them far ahead, and the polling aggregator 338Canada projects them with nearly 50 of the 78 seats in the province.
The Bloc, for its part, is lagging behind and is expected to elect 16 candidates, a sharp drop from the 34 it had in the last Parliament. The party is in second place, tied with the Conservatives, according to the polling aggregator 338Canada.
However, Blanchet downplayed his party’s position and dismissed the projections and polls.
“In the last two elections, we started far behind, and we ended the campaigns in a very good position. And in both cases, we prevented Liberal majorities in Ottawa. That’s what we intend to do once again,” he said.
But as the days go by, questions about the Bloc Québécois’s performance are gaining momentum in the campaign. This seems to irritate the leader, who says he does not care about projections.
He also laughed at the idea of having to fight in his own riding of Belœil-Chambly where he would be in a toss-up with the Liberal candidate.
“I even saw this morning that my riding was in danger. I am not sleeping for two weeks,” he said Saturday.
“Let people decide how they want to vote,” he pleaded.
The leader, who has spent a lot of time in the Montreal area, will bring his campaign to the Outaouais region, near Ottawa, on Monday afternoon.
National Post
atrepanier@postmedia.com
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