Despite calls for her resignation, Martine Ouellet will not step down as leader of the Bloc Quebecois.

Ouellet told reporters in a press conference that she never intended to give up her post, and instead referred to politics as an "extreme sport."

When asked to address the outcry by former party members about her aptitude as a leader, Ouellet curtly responded "that's their opinion."

Members of the Bloc Quebec met at the party’s Montreal office on Saturday morning to determine the way forward following the resignation of seven of the party’s 10 MPs earlier this week.

The meeting was chaired by MP Mario Beaulieu, a firm ally of embattled leader Martine Ouellet.

 

The resigning members, who will continue to sit in Parliament as Independents, cited Ouellet’s leadership as their reason for leaving. Several cited Ouellet’s single-minded focus on sovereignty as an impediment to the party and former party leaders and senior officials have been issued calls for Ouellet to step down.

Ouellet doesn’t hold a seat in Parliament, continuing to sit as a provincial MNA.

On Saturday, the seven published an open letter in Le Journal de Montreal, saying that if the party chooses to exclude them permanently, it will be a step towards the death of the Bloc.

 

Political analyst Philippe Fournier said the seven are betting that any future for the Bloc relies less on pushing for independence than on being a strong voice for Quebec on the federal level, and are looking to former Bloc leaders Gilles Duceppe and Lucien Bouchard as models. He noted that even Parti Quebecois leader Jean-Francois Lisee has vowed to not hold a referendum in his first term should the PQ prove victorious in November's provincial election, an indication that sovereignty is not high on most Quebecers priority list. 

"If they keep going in this direction, those seven MPs might lose their jobs in a year and half," he said. "Their vision is to keep the Bloc protecting the interests of Quebec."

The party's administration says Martine Ouellet has their full support.

Ouellet says the MPs who resigned will be able to keep their party memberships and are welcome to discuss a return to caucus.

A recent Leger poll showed support for the Bloc Quebecois at 13 per cent across the province.

Fournier called that "an incredibly low number."

"We're used to seeing the Bloc at 18 to 25 per cent. With 13 per cent in this poll, at the ballot box that would translate into zero seats for the Bloc," he said. "Would that be the end of the Bloc with those numbers? Perhaps it would."

Fournier noted that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau maintains solid popularity in Quebec, a factor which, combined with the infighting, puts the Bloc in a tough place with 20 months to go until the next federal election.

"Right now, we're seeing a squeezing out of the Bloc," he said. "People still support in some numbers the NDP, (around 20 per cent of Quebecers) support the Conservatives. There's not much place left for the Bloc to go."