The federal Liberals need not be worried about the recent surge in support for the right-leaning Action démocratique du Québec, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said on Tuesday.

The ADQ jumped from five to 41 seats in last month's provincial election, thrusting them past the Parti Québécois to form the official Opposition.

Stéphane Dion brushed aside concerns that the ADQ's rise is a bad omen for the Liberals.
(Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

But Dion brushed aside concerns that the ADQ's rise is a bad omen for the Liberals, insisting the party simply capitalized on widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo.

"The votes for (ADQ Leader Mario) Mr. Dumont were in a large part protest votes," Dion said at a party nomination meeting in the Quebec City-area riding held by International Co-operation Minister Josée Verner.

Dion added that Prime Minister Stephen Harper shouldn't count on benefiting from a similar sense of dissatisfaction.

"Mr. Harper cannot channel a protest vote because he is the government," Dion said. "There are a good many reasons to protest against this government."

Dion also rejected the suggestion that the results of the Quebec election marked a sudden shift to the right in Quebec politics.

"Quebecers, we are very sophisticated," he said. "When we vote federally, we don't vote for the same reasons as we do provincially."