By Nick Gamache

My car broke down 2 minutes after I got to Rivière-du-Loup.

I'm sitting there, desperately turning the key in the ignition, hoping something will happen... Nope, totally dead.

That's when my phone rings. I'm supposed to meet the Conservative candidate for Montmagny-L'Islet-Kamouraska-Rivière-du-Loup in half-an-hour. But change of plans, he's ahead of scheduling. Can I show up now instead?

Sure. So I do what I have to and run the 4 kilometers separating me and the rendez-vous point.

I arrive late, cursing my shoes. Bernard Généreux, the former mayor of La Pocatière, turned Conservative candidate, is already addressing a group of 20 employees at a company called Bioglobe. I'm still recovering from my unexpected run when he says he doesn't agree with everything the Conservatives stand for. In fact, he says that's why voters should send him to Ottawa, to change the party from the inside and make it better reflect Quebec values. At that point I'm no longer out of breath, or at least I don't remember I'm supposed to be.

Later on, while we're sitting in his campaign van (yes, I did use my car troubles to get more face time with the candidate), Généreux won't expand a whole lot about what he meant. He does say that he disagrees with the way the Conservatives are handling environmental issues.

Those who know Généreux say that's just Bernard being Bernard. He says what he thinks.

That's almost the exact opposite of his main opponent, the Bloc's Nancy Gagnon. She's smart, knows her files, she even wrote the Bloc's Question Period questions for two years.

But where Généreux is unexpected, Gagnon sounds almost scripted when she talks to voters.

She's replacing long-time and well-liked Bloc MP Paul Crête... And she's hoping his popularity will rub off on her. Crête campaigns with Gagnon every second day, and takes care of fundraising and campaign issues the rest of the time.

If the race is between the Bloc and the Conservatives, where are the Liberals? According to many here, they're in trouble. Their local organization is largely non-existent and their candidate reportedly entered the race reluctantly.

I ended up spending more time than expected in Rivière-du-Loup, a good chunk of it at a garage. A fellow client asked if I was voting for Généreux or that woman from the Bloc. I said I wasn't going to vote on Monday. He said: "Me neither, I'm tired of all those elections."