Dumont to Duceppe: 'There is life after politics'

There are ups and downs in politics in every part of Canada - but Quebec seems to take it to another level.

Public opinion can remain seemingly frozen for a decade - and then move suddenly. As one example, have a look at the number of seats the upstart Action Democratique du Quebec party won since its creation in 1994 to the last election.

1994: 1
1998: 1
2003: 4
2007: 41
2008: 7

Mario Dumont, the party's long-time leader, spent years as its only sitting member in Quebec's National Assembly.

Suddenly, Dumont became leader of the Opposition, and then had to quit after his party was nearly wiped out in the following election.

Dumont has a new job now as host of a television talk show on a Quebec network Canal V.

On Tuesday at 10:30pm his guest is a man hoping to avoid a similar fate - Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe.

In a pre-recorded interview, Dumont presses Duceppe on a number of issues - most notably: will Duceppe resign if his party loses too many seats in next week's election?

Dumont points out: "I, for example, settled that very quickly." (Dumont stepped down just hours after polls closed and his party lost 34 seats).

Duceppe has none of it. Dodging the question, the Bloc leader only says he commits to serving for four years after every election and that he's going to save his analysis until after the election.

Dumont does elicit one interesting bit from Duceppe, though.

For the first few weeks of the campaign, Duceppe dismissed NDP Leader Jack Layton out of hand, saying often that neither he nor Layton would be the next prime minister, but that Duceppe was the only one who will admit it.

In the interview with Dumont, Duceppe tweaks that slightly to say, "only one of the three will be in power (after the election)."

At the end of the interview Dumont says: "I'll take you word that you'll stick around after the election, but just in case: I want to assure you there is life after politics."

It's not clear if that was a job offer - or just a jab between two politicians who have known each other for many years.