Liberals, Tories focus on Bloc ridings
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is touring through communities in rural Quebec, a strategy that would have been unthinkable after the political fallout in the aftermath of the sponsorship scandal.
After starting in Newfoundland and Labrador on Tuesday, Ignatieff arrived in Drummondville for a small rally with supporters.
The Liberal leader plans to spend two days in the province, targeting ridings that are primarily held by the Bloc Québécois.
Ignatieff told his audience on Tuesday night that the Liberals are offering new hope for voters in these ridings.
"This is a moment when Quebec can stand up and say we have had enough," Ignatieff said.
"If you have had enough, let's change this government."
The wheels fell off the Liberal electoral machine in the years following the sponsorship scandal. The sponsorship program was designed to raise the federal government's profile in the wake of the 1995 sovereignty referendum in Quebec. Over its life, Liberal-friendly ad firms in that province took in millions of taxpayers' dollars.
The scandal turned many Quebec voters from the Liberals and breathed new life into the campaigns of the Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois.
The Liberals now hold only 14 of 75 seats in Quebec and have watched as their support has eroded in almost every part of the province outside the party's stronghold of Montreal.
While the party may be sensing renewed optimism, it is not alone in fighting for seats in Quebec.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper was also in Drummondville on Tuesday, drumming up his own support in the riding. Harper is also hoping to tip Bloc-held ridings into his win column as he hopes to secure a majority government on May 2.
The Conservatives capitalized on the Liberal misfortunes in the elections following the sponsorship scandal.
The Tories held 11 seats in the province when the election was called and many of those ridings are in Quebec City and in rural areas.
Harper and Ignatieff are each targeting Bloc Québécois voters, who have been abandoning the party in recent elections.
Ignatieff will visit Sherbrooke Wednesday, another riding held by the Bloc but those margins of victory have been shrinking.
The Liberals will then tour another Bloc-held riding, which they came close to winning in 2008.
Ignatieff is telling voters that Quebecers only have two choices — the Liberals or Conservatives — if they want to have a say in a government because the Bloc can only be in opposition.
But Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe said he isn't worried about losing his supporters to either party in the May 2 election.
"We won all those federal elections since 1993 because Quebecers recognize themselves in the policies that we are proposing," Duceppe said.
