Justin Trudeau was shaking hands in Montreal's overwhelmingly popular Jean-Talon market this afternoon, in his bid to win the riding of Papineau for the Liberals, when the funniest thing happened.

Tim Duboyce

He ran into Bloc Leader, Gilles Duceppe, who also decided a Saturday afternoon swing through the bustling market would be a great way to give his incumbent Papineau candidate, Vivian Barbot, a campaign boost.

The three of them exchanged pleasantries, and a light-hearted barb or two (Duceppe to Trudeau: "Will you be coming to Ottawa to see your MP, Vivian Barbot, after the election?" Trudeau on Duceppe: "I have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone who throws their hat in the ring, anyone who serves their country, however they define their country.")

Then Trudeau, the 36-year-old, eldest son of late PM Pierre Trudeau, answered a reporter's question regarding the number of times candidates in this election have been forced out of the race because of opinions they once expressed in online blogs.

"I think it's one of the first elections where blogs are really playing a role," he said.

"The values someone defends, and the things they represent throughout their life need to be consistent with what they are standing for. I'm fortunate enough, at a personal level, that I've always been aware that people pay a little bit of attention to what I say, for reasons unrelated to anything I've done, until now.

"Therefore, I'm not worried about what the blogosphere has to reveal about me. Mr. Harper should be more worried about what the blogosphere reveals about some of his candidates," Trudeau said.

— Tim Duboyce