Stephane Dion considers the Quebec election.

Before the campaign, it was fashionable to say that Quebec had changed, that it had joined the ranks of other democracies and that from then on, a left-right rift would replace the sovereignism-federalism divide which has split Quebec society for the last four decades. That turned out to be an illusion.

True, the Parti Québécois and Québec Solidaire are more left-leaning than the CAQ and Liberal Party. But this time again, it was the national issue that had the most influence on the vote. Generally, non-francophones remained faithful to the Liberal Party; the obvious reason is that they want to remain in Canada and that the CAQ gave them insufficient guarantees regarding Canadian unity. Only francophones are divided on the issue of Quebec’s political future within Canada.