MONTREAL — The last thing Quebecers and Canadians want is instability in the federal Parliament, according to Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet. He called on his federal counterparts to drop partisanship and work hand in hand to fight U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats.

“I do not see any other scenario than collaboration for at least a year,” said Blanchet during a sober press conference the morning after an “atypical election.”

The country was still awaiting official results from Elections Canada when Blanchet spoke to the press in Montreal. The Liberal Party could still win a majority of seats or collaborate with the left-leaning New Democratic Party to govern without fear of being overthrown.

The separatist leader said he had already contacted other federal leaders to discuss the next step in a possible minority parliament.

“In these results, there is uncertainty, and the instability prevails,” Blanchet said.

“Quebec wants stability. Federalist parties and our party, which is an independentist party, should be working together in this crisis. We should not threaten to overthrow the government anytime soon,” he added.

Canada is in the midst of a trade war with its closest ally, the United States and President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on Canadian imports and has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada.

Blanchet’s comments come after he said last week that he felt like he was sitting in a “foreign parliament” and that Quebec was part of an artificial country with very little meaning, called Canada.” His comments were widely criticized outside of Quebec .

However, the leader of Quebec’s main independence vehicle, the provincial Parti Québécois, blamed Blanchet for running a poor campaign.

“The strategy adopted by the Bloc, which validates Mark Carney as a collaborator, as someone who is preparing to collaborate with Quebec, set limits on what the Parti Québécois could do in the circumstances, because that is not what we think,” said Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

He hopes that the Bloc Québécois “will return a little more to its independence roots.”

The PQ has been leading in the polls for over a year and is poised to form the next provincial government in 2026. The party promises to hold a referendum on Quebec independence during its first mandate.

Blanchet said he would speak with St-Pierre Plamondon in the coming days.

The Bloc Québécois suffered significant losses to the Liberals. At the time of the dissolution, the Bloc held 33 seats and is on track to win a maximum of 23 after Monday’s election.

Furthermore, the Liberals were about to win a total of 43 seats, a majority of Quebec’s 78 ridings, which seems to be at least partly due to threats from the White House.

National Post

atrepanier@postmedia.com

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