The Bloc Quebecois’ election challenge: Selling a Quebec-first party in a moment of Canadian pride

Genevieve Beauchemin has the details on how U.S. President Trump has shaken the political landscape in Quebec and the fortunes of the Bloc Quebecois.

The Bloc Quebecois election bus rolled into the Montreal region today, showing off the party’s campaign slogan: Je choisis le Québec, I choose Quebec. But this time, issues that have traditionally been a cornerstone of federal contests have taken a back seat on the campaign trail.

“For the time being, what we have ahead of us is tackling the intimidation being put into place by the American president,” said Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet. “We must be allied with Canadians, Mexicans and Europeans. But to be an ally, we need to be well represented to work with partners.”

For generations, themes of Quebec’s identity, nationalism, sovereignty and protection of the French language, have often taken centre stage. The Bloc seemed poised to seize on these issues and put forward a platform that would include issues like having the federal government hand over exclusive control over immigration to the province.

In the fall, Blanchet’s troops were gaining ground and won a by-election in the riding of Lasalle-Emard-Verdun, an area in southwest Montreal long considered a safe spot for the federal Liberals. That had analysts suggesting the Bloc could make big gains in its share of Quebec’s 78 seats in the House of Commons. It held 33 seats at dissolution.

But polls have suggested the Bloc has lost some support.

“It is a tremendous change,” says Genevieve Tellier, a professor in the faculty of social sciences and political studies at the University of Ottawa. “I don’t think many observers anticipated such a shift because we went from a nationalist sentiment towards Quebec that shifted to a nationalist sentiment toward the federal government.”

Canadian pride among Quebecers grows

In the face of tariff and annexation threats from the White House, Quebecers’ Canadian pride has risen.

A survey published last month by the Angus Reid Institute found that the number of Quebecers who say they have a “deep emotional attachment to Canada” grew from 30 per cent in December 2024 to 45 per cent in February 2025. While it is clear Quebec started behind other provinces in its enthusiasm for waving the Maple Leaf, this marks the biggest increase in attachment of any province in this country.

Part of the shifting sentiment is dollars and cents according to analysts. Quebecers’ traditional concerns may be eclipsed by a sense that there is greater economic security in forming closer bonds with Canada at a time when the province faces a more immediate threat of tariff and annexation from the south, and this may drive up Canadian patriotism.

“The weakness of all independent movements, whether it is the Bloc Quebecois or the provincial Parti Quebecois, is whether an independent Quebec is a viable economic state,” says Tellier. “There is always an economic question in this discussion and now it is even bigger because what people are saying is that we must work with allies, and the closer ally for Quebecers are Canadians.”

Blanchet has tried to address these concerns by insisting that to thrive, Quebec needs to be represented by a party that knows the specific concerns and issues of the province, and that can then work with partners in the rest of Canada.

He has been making the case that other federal leaders don’t know enough about the province’s sensibilities and pointed to the Liberal Leader, Mark Carney, who had to apologize for two mistakes related to one of his Quebec candidates. Carney referred to Nathalie Provost, a survivor of the Polytechnique Massacre in 1989. He referred to her as Nathalie “Pronovost”, and said she had been shot at Concordia University.

“We discovered there is a certain ignorance of sensitive issues,” Blanchet said in French during a news conference this morning in Montreal.

He also said that his “only purpose” was to be the best voice for Quebecers.

But some analysts say he is likely to face the challenge of selling a Quebec-first party in what is shaping up to be a Canada-first moment.