This morning's papers will all have news about the relatively important by-elections in Quebec. For federalists, the good news is that the separatists took it on the chin. A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office sent me this one-liner late last night:
Bloc is “Down 18 pts in Roberval, down 14 in St. Hyacinthe, down 18 points in Outremont.”
Indeed, the poor showing by the Bloc was about the only silver lining for Stephane Dion and the Liberals who, in losing Outremont to the NDP, lost a seat that had been Liberal red since 1935.
But, looking at last night's snapshot, it seems even bleaker than that for the federal Liberals in Quebec. As my colleague Robert Fife reported last night, the Liberals are marginalized outside the island of Montreal.
In St. Hyacinthe, west of Montreal, where the BQ held on to the seat, the Liberals finished fourth, behind the NDP and Conservatives. In Roberval, they placed third but, as in St. Hyacinthe, with less than 10 per cent of the vote.
And what happened to the Green Party? If there are questions this morning about Stephane Dion's leadership of the Liberals in Quebec, how about questions for Elizabeth May?
Despite polls over the last year that have shown voter preference for the Greens peaking at about 10 per cent and with environmental issues consistently at the top of mind by Quebec voters (particularly compared to voters in other regions), the Greens did bupkus.
In St. Hyacinthe, Greens snagged just 3.7 per cent; in Roberval, just 1.7 per cent; and in Outremont, just 2.2 per cent. By comparison, in the 2006 general election, Greens won 3.87 per cent in St. Hyacinthe; 4.34 per cent in Roberval; and 4.82 per cent in Outremont.