MONTREAL - The Harper Conservatives wasted little time in dismissing the new leader of the Bloc Quebecois.
Prime Minister Harper's Quebec lieutenant said the Bloc has had its day and predicts Mario Beaulieu's hardline separatist stance won't resonate.
Denis Lebel says Quebecers are fed up with the old quarrels.
Beaulieu won a slim victory Saturday over his only opponent in the separatist party's leadership race.
He said explaining the benefits of breaking away from Canada will be his top priority.
Beaulieu said federalists have often announced the death of Quebec's independence movement, but he vows that separatists are returning with more determination and energy than ever.
Beaulieu has a difficult task ahead.
The Bloc was reduced to just four seats in the Commons in the 2011 election from the 49 it held after the 2008 vote.
And the provincial sovereigntist Parti Quebecois was toppled from power in April.
