Tim Duboyce

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe is refusing to apologize for an outburst yesterday in which he called a Conservative candidate an "imbecile."

It happened when Luc Harvey, who is running for re-election in a Quebec City riding, showed up at a farmers' market where Duceppe was campaigning. Harvey began heckling Duceppe and saying the Bloc had accomplished nothing during the party's 18 years in Parliament.

Duceppe eventually asked his entourage to "get rid" of Harvey, calling the Conservative an "imbecile."

Today, Duceppe was asked by a reporter if he went too far. Duceppe refused to engage the question.

He said simply, "The matter is closed," and that what happened is behind him.

— Tim Duboyce