Maura Forrest writing in The Globe and Mail:
Quebec may be on the cusp of electing a Parti Québécois majority government that has promised to hold a referendum on independence in the next four years, despite the fact that most voters don’t want to separate from Canada.
Just under a week out from the Oct. 5 election, Quebec’s political landscape remains so divided that the PQ could nab a majority of the province’s 127 seats with scarcely 30 per cent of the vote.
It would be an unprecedented ending to an unusual campaign, in which none of the PQ’s four opponents have been able to mount a compelling case against the sovereigntist party.
“Even though an overwhelming majority of Quebeckers, francophones included, do not want a PQ government, they are the least despised of all parties,” said David Heurtel, a political analyst and former provincial Liberal cabinet minister.