The Bloc? Really?

Bloc In No Rush To Topple Conservatives
Philip Authier, CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2006

MONTREAL - The Bloc Quebecois says it is willing to give the new Conservative government a chance to govern and is in no hurry to bring it down.

But Bloc house leader Michel Gauthier said it would be wrong for the Conservatives to take his party's support for granted and the party will evaluate its endorsement of government initiatives based on its usual criteria of whether a proposal is good for Quebec.

The Tories, he said, seem more open to Quebec's needs than the Liberals and that is worth noting.

"The idea, at the start, is to allow the government to function a certain amount of time," Mr. Gauthier said in an interview. "We intend to defend Quebec's interests on every occasion, but for a minority government to work two things are needed: compromises on the part of the government and compromises on the part of the opposition.

"They give me a better impression than the Liberals. They say they know they are a minority government and know they will have to behave like a minority government. For me, that is the ABC of success," Mr. Gauthier said.

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe has always said the party will examine government moves based on whether they are good or bad for Quebec. Mr. Gauthier said so far the Tory approach toward Quebec has been to show more openness than the Liberals.

© National Post 2006