Nothing has been confirmed yet, but I speculate that Gilles Duceppe will leave federal politics to lead the Parti Quebecois after the surprise resignation of PQ leader Bernard Landry.
The resignation of Landry changes the political equations of a quite a few people in Quebec City and especially in Ottawa.
The Bloc’s current advantage in Quebec polls for the next federal vote are not principally due to the leadership of Duceppe, yet many PQ supporters will see him as the heir apparent of the party.
In an interview with Céline Galipeau on Radio-Canada’s Téléjournal, co-founder of the Bloc and current federal Liberal Minister of Transport, Jean Lapierre speculated on the now changed political landscape in Quebec measuring Landry’s departure and the future of Duceppe in the context of the Gomery inquiry.
The political equations of Paul Martin and Stephen Harper, in the context of today’s news, are equally unknown as to whether the Bloc’s polling number will decrease at all if Gilles Duceppe is to resign.
Could this even present itself as an opening for the Conservative Party, however minor, as a greater chance to present itself as a viable protest vote to the people of Quebec?