MONTREAL - While Stephen Harper pledges to slash the per-vote subsidy to federal political parties, Quebec is moving in the other direction: it's about to boost its provincial one.

The supposed goal of those subsidizes -- which Harper has been so critical of -- is to reduce political corruption.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe says the scandal-battered province sees increasing the allowance as a way to limit the corrupting influence of political fundraising.

"More and more observers and citizens (in Quebec) say that the state must do more to finance parties, so there is less interference . . . so there are no scandals," Duceppe said Friday after the prime minister reiterated his desire to cut the subsidy.

"And yet, he (Harper) goes in the opposite direction."

Members of Quebec's ruling Liberals and opposition hope boosting the provincial subsidy, from the current $0.50 a year for each vote received in the last election to $0.82, would reduce the influence of party bagmen over government decisions.

The province has been awash in controversy about fundraisers' influence over everything from the selection of judges to the distribution of construction contracts, fuelling widespread demand for a public inquiry into corruption.

The Charest government has refused to call an inquiry. But it has responded with a police probe, a limited inquiry into judicial nominations and anti-corruption measures -- which include bigger political party subsidies.

"We had a debate last year . . . talking about scandals at the national assembly in Quebec," Duceppe said.

He charged that Harper is targeting all of Ottawa's opposition parties with his pledge to phase out the $2-per-vote allowance over three years.

The Liberals, NDP, Bloc and Green party depend more on these funds than the Tories, who have a considerably bigger donor base than their rivals.

Even though it has lower campaign expenses than other parties, the Bloc would likely take the hardest financial hit since it brings in less private funding.

"He's not only targeting us, he's targeting all opposition (parties)," Duceppe said.

"That guy would be happy with no opposition and maybe no Parliament."

Harper has been so determined to bring this public cash flow to an end that he almost lost his government over it in December 2008. Opposition parties fought back, igniting a parliamentary crisis in Ottawa.

But the story has been much different in Quebec City.

A political financing expert said Quebec's major political parties have basically reached consensus to increase the provincial per-vote subsidy.

"We are moving . . . in the direction of the existing system in Ottawa as it is," said Louis Massicotte, a political scientist from Universite Laval in Quebec City.

"It's pretty much a done deal."

He said political systems that rely heavily on individual donations can encourage corruption -- and he cited Quebec as a prime example.

Over the last year, Quebecers discovered that corporations had been funding major political parties by disguising their contributions as donations from individual employees.

Former employees at one company flatly admitted that donations were made in their name -- which would be against fundraising laws.

"The idea is that individual donations deter corruption because they are smaller, however the Quebec experience strongly suggests that there are ways to (get) around these prohibitions," he said.

Massicotte predicts that cutting the federal allowance would create a huge funding void for parties.

"Frankly, I think this is a very major problem because you cannot assume that voters will suddenly start contributing to political parties with enthusiasm," he said.

"Mr. Harper admits himself that this will be difficult because he says that there will be a kind of adjustment period of three years."