MONTREAL - The Harper Conservative majority could have an indirect impact on Quebec's independence movement, according to political analyst Jean Lapierre.
The Bloc, now reduced to four MPs, was well-financed thanks to a $1.8-million subsidy that came through party funding legislation passed by the Chretien Liberals.
The stream of cash has led many Bloc Quebecois members to want to keep going, even though they lost official party status and some candidates were beaten by as many as 8,000 seats in some ridings.
However the Harper Conservatives have vowed to change the law and cancel the funding system.
The provincial Parti Quebecois indirectly benefits from the current federal party funding law as Bloc staff has, in the past, helped out with the provincial campaign, notes Lapierre.
"The PQ will go into the next election without that manpower," says Lapierre. "That's 500 people paid by Ottawa to work for the Parti Quebecois in the provincial elections."
Lapierre notes that polls suggest that a party led by Francois Legault could attract 39 percent of the Quebec vote, compared to 24 for the PQ and 23 for the Liberals.
The Action Democratique de Quebec meanwhile, has veered far right.
"At their convention they promised that they're going to crush unions, privatize Loto Quebec, the SAQ," said Lapierre, "They make Harper look like Che Guevara in comparison."
