Do Nycole Turmel's ties to Quebec sovereigntist parties affect your opinion of her?

UPDATE: The acting head of the NDP and current leader of Canada's Official Opposition party, Nycole Turmel, was a member of the separatist Bloc Québécois as recently as January and quit a provincial sovereigntist party just this Tuesday.

Interim NDP Leader Nycole Turmel was also a member of the Bloc Quebecois for several years before running for a seat in the House of Commons under the NDP banner. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press) Turmel was a member of the Bloc for five years and quit weeks before announcing she would run for the NDP in May's election, according to CBC News.

In an email Tuesday, NDP spokesman Karl Bélanger explained, "Ms. Turmel got a membership card in support of a friend, Carole Lavallée."

"I am a strong federalist, working for Canadians all over Canada," said Turmel in an interview for CBC's Power & Politics. "And I got the support of my caucus, the support of the federal council to represent them," he said.

However, in a letter to Lavallée, Turmel wrote that she was quitting for "personal reasons," not because of the party's policies, said a report in the Globe and Mail.

After the story broke Tuesday, it was revealed that Turmel was also a member of the left-wing, pro-sovereignty provincial party Québec Solidaire. The NDP said Turmel "let go" of her Québec Solidaire membership on Tuesday.

Turmel said NDP officials knew about her other party memberships because she disclosed them on a questionnaire that must be completed by prospective candidates. 

"The caucus was aware of that. Were they aware of the card? I don't know," she said in an interview Tuesday with CBC News.

Turmel came under fire during the campaign from Liberal candidate Marcel Proulx who accused her of having sovereigntist ties.

Do Nycole Turmel's ties to Quebec sovereigntist parties affect your opinion of her? Let us know what you think.



(This survey is not scientific, it is based on readers' responses.)