What does Daniel Paillé’s resignation mean for the future of the Bloc Québécois?

Daniel Paillé has announced his resignation as leader of the Bloc Québécois.

During a Monday afternoon press conference, the man who succeeded Gilles Duceppe as leader, said he's leaving politics because of an epileptic health issue.

“I’d rather pass the torch now," he said, according to the Montreal Gazette.

"To pursue my life, I am going home.

He continued, telling reporters that he's leaving the party in good shape.

"I'm proud of my record as leader of the Bloc for the last two years. During that time we have tried to re-balance things, brought in new members and first and foremost, we have worked with thousands of people in Quebec," he said.

"The way forward for the Bloc is something that I have prepared. It has the momentum it needs to keep moving ahead.

"The Bloc Quebecois will never give up. In Ottawa [the BQ is] the only party to truly defend the interests of Quebec without compromise. A nation cannot live under the control of another."

[ Related: 'Quebec is already independent in its mind,' PQ minister says ]

If you haven't heard the name Daniel Paillé, don't be too hard on yourself.

As explained by CBC News', the federal leader — without a seat in the House of Commons — never became a household name.

"The large majority of Canadians would have said to themselves Daniel who? Then there was a poll recently done in Quebec that found the same thing," journalist Justin Hayward said.

"48 per cent of Quebecers don't know who he is."

[ Related: Quebec’s PQ government moves to limit discounts on new books ]

And despite Paillé's rosy rhetoric, things aren't all that great in the land of the BQ.

The party is nowhere near its heights — in 1993 — when they were Canada's official opposition with 54 seats in Parliament. In the 2011 election, they were decimated to only four seats. They have since gained one MP and lost another — in Maria Mourani — who became an independent over a dispute about Quebec's Values Charter.

They're now struggling in the opinion polls.

"The Bloc has only marginally recovered from a very disappointing federal election," pollster Nik Nanos told Yahoo Canada News.

"Indeed, the election of a minority PQ government has exacerbated this by shifting the sovereignty narrative to the provincial level as the Marois PQ government continually looks to assert itself as the main voice for the sovereigntist movement.

"With the absence of a federal flash-point or flareup on Quebec, the BQ are in a situation where their situation is one of withering on the vine."

The party is hoping to have their leadership convention relatively early in the new year to get ready for a 2015 election.

According to the Gazette, a leadership front-runner might be MP Jean-François Fortin.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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