Priceless!

Since the middle of the federal election, Conservatives in Quebec are scrambling. Their leader has shown, with the culture cuts and justice reforms (and now Senate meddling) that he does not understand/care for Quebec.

His recent efforts to hit Charest during the provincial campaign (which may or may not have had an impact on the final results) have only increased the tension between Quebec Cons and the federal party.

I have seen the impact of Harper on the federal scene here locally. Many former Conservatives who are Liberal at the provincial level have made the choice to move over to the LPC (including some high ranking cabinet staff and not a few MNAs).

Ignatieff's accession as leader of the LPC, combined with continued Harperisms destined to destroy the party here in Quebec will further the decline of the Cons (as highlighted by Buzetti in Le Devoir today). Perhaps Harper's purpose is to create an anti-Quebec sentiment in the rest of the country - emulating (?) the efforts at previous Liberal governments during national unity crises - to garner support in English Canada and achieve that apparently unreachable majority sans la belle province.

What will the impact be the LPC in Quebec under an Ignatieff leadership combined with Harper's attacks on Quebec? We may indeed be able to win upwards of 30 seats (perhaps more, but we need more polling data) in a federal election!

But what is more important, and was highlighted by Bellavance in La Presse, is we have an opportunity to build strong links between the LPC and the PLQ, something that I have been personally working on over the last three years (I just finished running a provincial campaign that was declared victorious 5 minutes after the closing of the polls!).

Michael and his team understand the importance of these links (perhaps due to the fact that Marc-André Blanchard, former president of the PLQ and close collaborator with Charest, was one of the key organisers for his leadership campaign here in Quebec). What this means is, over the long-term, we can reconnect with francophone Quebecers, and build up a long-term foundation for success.

But this success can't be solely based on the LPC-PLQ link - we need to communicate with voters in Quebec, and highlight the fact that we are the only party at the federal level that can create a progressive government based on the values and interests of Quebecers.

If we can do both, 30 seats is only the start!