Bloc leader Blanchet visits New Brunswick, insists his party doesn’t plan to expand beyond Quebec

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet visited francophone communities in New Brunswick this week — the first visit by a Bloc leader to the officially bilingual province in 13 years. But he insists it’s not a sign the sovereigntist party is setting its sights beyond Quebec.

“We believe that the best way for Quebec to promote its own future is through sovereignty. If we want Quebec to be a country, we cannot pretend to have candidates or MPs from outside of Quebec, which absolutely would be illogical,” Blanchet told CBC News.

“But if we can be of help to any community who needs support in Parliament or otherwise, I will be the first to say we will be there to help those people.”

How that help might materialize is not clear. Blanchet was in the province from Monday to Thursday morning. His official itinerary had him meeting with a number of francophone mayors and community groups — including the Société Acadienne du Nouveau Brunswick (SANB). He also took part in the province’s Fête Nationale de l’Acadie celebrations on August 15.

In 2021, in the dying days of the federal election campaign, Blanchet had a meeting planned with the SANB. He called off his visit to New Brunswick after the SANB cancelled the meeting and asserted publicly that Blanchet did not represent the province’s Acadians.

“The Bloc is not and must not be the voice of Acadians in Ottawa,” the group wrote in a media statement. “Only Acadians can speak in the name of l’Acadie.”

The SANB never offered a clear explanation for the meeting’s cancellation, although it did say it wasn’t due to outside pressure but was something its board and president decided together.

At the time, Blanchet accused unnamed Acadian elected officials of torpedoing the meeting, saying they had raised complaints with the SANB.

In 2021, Bernard Thériault, mayor of Caraquet, N.B. and a former provincial Liberal minister, said it was inappropriate for the SANB to meet with a political party that has no representation in New Brunswick.

Blanchet said he does not pretend to represent anyone outside of Quebec.

“On many issues we have been the voice for those people, because we offered them to convey the word they wanted to be conveyed in Parliament,” he said. “But I would never pretend to represent people of New Brunswick or anywhere outside Quebec.

“I realize that in the past, for some time, Quebecers or authorities in Quebec were not so open toward French communities outside of Quebec. But this is something that has changed and we want to be part of this different way.” 

A message for voters back home?

One political analyst suggested Blanchet may have gone to New Brunswick to send a message to voters in his own province — that the Bloc is ready to defend French language rights outside of Quebec.

“He’s doing that for his home audience,” said Daniel Béland, political scientist and director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. “He’s sending the message to his supporters.

“You can tell people, ‘Look, I’m going even outside of Quebec to show support for francophones because this is something that you should do as a francophone Quebecer.'”

He pointed out that the Bloc was the Liberal Party’s only real rival in Quebec in the last two federal election campaigns.

“Language is a key political issue in Quebec,” Béland said, “and the Liberals have to understand that they need to … emphasize the idea that they want to protect French … not just in Quebec but outside of Quebec.”

Though recent polls show the Conservatives gaining ground nationally at the Liberals’ expense, that hasn’t been a factor yet in Quebec, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to be in a dead heat with Blanchet. 

In June, Abacus Data found some 30 per cent of Quebec voters would cast their ballots for the Liberals, putting them in a virtual tie with the Bloc at 32 per cent.

“Perhaps his ultimate goal is to make the Bloc more palatable to Canadians outside of Quebec,” said Abacus CEO David Coletto.

“If we’re in a perpetual minority government situation, if the Bloc is going to be seen as able to achieve things and work with whichever parties are in power, maybe it needs a better reputation outside of Quebec.” 

But if Blanchet’s goal is to convince the Liberals he’s making a play for New Brunswick, that message may not be getting through, said a former staffer at the Prime Minister’s Office.

“I would be surprised if any of the three other parties are paying much attention to this or find it troubling, problematic,” said Jonathan Kalles, who used to work for Trudeau as a Quebec adviser.

Kalles said Blanchet may be trying to redefine himself beyond echoing the political messages of Quebec Premier François Legault in Ottawa.

“François Legault has been having basically a détente with the Liberal government in Ottawa over the last number of months,” he said. “They’re not right now in a particularly antagonistic moment.

“[Blanchet] wants to play a role as the leading voice of the Quebec separatists, of Quebec nationalists, of defenders of the French language.”

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment for this story.

The last Bloc leader to visit New Brunswick was Gilles Duceppe in 2010.