MONTREAL - Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe says he doesn't think a third minority government in four years will escalate tensions between Ottawa and Quebec.

Duceppe was visiting a rural Quebec riding on Sunday where the Bloc and Conservatives are in a fight-to-the-finish race.

He recalled the successive Liberal minority governments of the 1960s and invited the federal parties to work together in Parliament, while asserting his commitment to Quebec sovereignty.

But Duceppe says he doubts the Tories would work with the other parties.

He also sneered at Conservative incumbent Lawrence Cannon's remark on Saturday that a vote for the Bloc was a wasted vote.

He says Cannon's comments showed contempt for democracy.

Duceppe has repeatedly accused the Conservatives of arrogance and contempt since the beginning of the campaign.

The rural Quebec region of Lac-St-Jean was a longtime separatist stronghold until 2006, when two ridings switched over to the Conservatives.

A poll published last week suggested the Tories and the Bloc are neck-and-neck.