Gilles Duceppe quickly grew testy at a Sunday morning press briefing when some members of the Quebec media started to grill the Bloc leader on his near-leap to provincial politics last year.

Duceppe had announced his intentions to seek the leadership of the Parti Québécois. But he flushed his bid almost immediately once Pauline Marois (who ran uncontested for the job) said she wanted to become PQ boss.

Reporters wanted to know if Duceppe is committed to serving out his entire leadership mandate with the Bloc if he is re-elected on October 14.

Duceppe replied that he was once asked whether he could guarantee he'd stay in his job for five more elections.

"That could mean 20 years. I'm 61 years old, so I'd be 81," Duceppe said. "That's ridiculous."

Duceppe went on to say neither the media nor himself are prophets, and that no one can answer such a question.

He points out Bloc members seem happy with the job he's doing. They gave Duceppe an overwhelming vote of support (95.4 per cent) in a leadership review, following his flirtation with the PQ.

—Tim Duboyce