Don't vote for Bloc, Dumont tells Quebecers
Last Updated: Thursday, January 12, 2006 | 3:31 PM ET
CBC News
Mario Dumont, who leads Action démocratique du Québec, said on Thursday that voting for the Bloc only isolates Quebec from the federal political process.
The ADQ is a right-of-centre provincial party with five seats in the Quebec legislature.
"Go back two years ago, before the sponsorship scandal, the Bloc was really going nowhere," Dumont said. "People were questioning the relevance of the Bloc and its role in strengthening Quebec."
Mario Dumont leads Action démocratique du Québec.
Dumont said the Bloc limits the province's influence on the national scene and acts more like a millstone around Quebecers' necks.
He said he would vote Conservative, but only recommended that voters not vote for the Bloc.
The Bloc won 54 of the 75 seats in Quebec in 2004, and for much of the campaign looked like they could increase that number by continuing to capitalize on Quebecers' anger at the Liberals over the sponsorship scandal.
Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe said he respects Dumont's opinion, but that the only opinion that really counts is that expressed by the electorate on election day.
"Mario Dumont is not in the campaign," Duceppe said. "He can say whatever he wants to say."
