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OTTAWA — Bloc Québécois MP Denis Trudel says he believes that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of annexation and tariffs are less frightening than the Liberal Party of Canada.
“As for Quebec, quite sincerely, I am much more afraid of the Liberals than of Trump,” said Trudel in a social media post over the weekend that has since been erased.
Trudel did not explain his fears but he has repeatedly attacked the Liberals for the way the government has managed the housing crisis, the environment, the French language and the Gaza conflict.
Liberals’ Quebec Lieutenant Steven Guilbeault was outraged by the suggestion that his party was a bigger threat to the country than the U.S. president and the tariffs he imposes on “Quebec workers and Quebec companies”.
“How can you be so out of touch with reality to only see your own political, egotistic potential gains at the detriment of an entire society is, frankly baffling,” said Guilbeault.
The Bloc declined an interview request to speak with the candidate who is known for his sharp comments on social media.
Recently, he wrote that he was afraid, not of President Donald Trump but rather that the campaign would be monopolized by the “51st state nonsense.”
“We must not let the federalists play the fear card to weaken us further,” he wrote.
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Trudel was first elected in 2019 in Longueuil-Saint-Hubert, on the south shore of Montreal. Both victories were by more than 1800 votes.
In the last year, polling showed that Trudel was coasting to an easy victory and the Bloc had even identified Liberal ridings they wished to flip in the 2025 election. For instance, Trudel was celebrating a poll that suggested that Quebec independence support was at 40 per cent.
“40 per cent independence!! With 8 per cent undecided!! We’re staying calm, but things are going pretty well!! Long live independence!” he wrote.
Though, this time, as Quebecers seem to be inhabited by a renewed Canadian pride, the Liberal candidate Natilien Joseph could very well win Longueuil-Saint-Hubert and unseat Trudel according to polling aggregator 338Canada.
At a press conference on Sunday, Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet did not condemn his candidate’s comments and said his party was “not really authoritarian” and that there is a “great diversity of opinions” among separatists.
“Denis (Trudel), in his riding, probably has more to fear from the Liberals. He’ll make his own analysis,” said Blanchet.
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“There will be strategic issues, calculations. And each of us has our own opinions, and that’s how we have discussions. Which means that at the end of the exercise, we come out stronger and smarter,” Blanchet added.
Guilbeault couldn’t believe it.
“I think the response is almost as bad (as the comments),” he said.
National Post
atrepanier@postmedia.com
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