Despite lots of talk about shifting political sands in Quebec, the Bloc Québecois continues to have appeal among younger voters, or some of them, at least. Gilles Duceppe spoke to a full house in the main auditorium at l'Université du Québec à Chicoutimi over the lunch hour.

Hundreds of people, mainly students, came to hear the Bloc leader make his pitch, and then take a few questions. Duceppe received two (if hesitant) rounds of applause during his speech, which was partisan, and mainly attacked Stephen Harper and the Conservatives.

This region has a history of voting overwhelmingly "Yes" in sovereignty referendums, and usually elects provincial and federal representatives from the PQ and BQ.

However, the Conservatives currently hold two of the region's three seats. And local observers predict a tight two-way race to the finish line in all three electoral districts.

On the region's recent election of two Conservatives, third-year biology student Vanessa Vaillancourt said of the Conservatives' recent success, "I think people were looking for change, and wanted to see if things would get better. But I think a lot of them will come back to the Bloc because it isn't any better now than it was (before the last election."

— Tim Duboyce