Forgive Stéphane Dion if his head hurts.

Things are so bad for his party in Quebec that a Liberal senator, speaking privately with CBC in Montreal yesterday, likened the Liberal brand in that province to the pain reliever Tylenol when it was rocked by crisis.

That would be 1982 when seven people died after taking store-bought Tylenol tablets that had been laced with cyanide.

The good senator noted that the whole world quickly stopped buying Tylenol until the company found a way to fix its problem — lots of tamper-proof packaging — and rebrand itself. It’s now a top seller again around the world.

The Tylenol crisis is a lesson for Quebec Liberals who have watched their party lose its way, especially in rural parts of the province, the senator said. If Tylenol can come back, goes the notion, so can federal Liberals and Dion.

Please take only as directed.