MONTREAL — Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe suffered a clear setback last night as his party failed to meet its two main campaign objectives: to win even more seats in Quebec and to take more than half of the popular vote.
In a speech to hundreds of disappointed supporters in Montreal, Mr. Duceppe said his party remains the main political force in Quebec, despite the strong Conservative surge in the eastern part of the province.
"Fortunately, here in Quebec, it's still the Bloc," Mr. Duceppe said, playing off the party's campaign slogan.
He said it was the fifth straight time the Bloc has won a majority of seats in the province, drawing cheers from his supporters.
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"It's a victory for the Bloc, it's a victory for democracy," he said, accompanied by his wife and two children.
Mr. Duceppe acknowledged that the Conservatives ate into Bloc support, but vowed to win back the votes of his past electors.
"Many people voted for the Conservative and we respect that choice," he said. "We will do everything possible to win back your confidence."
Mr. Duceppe focused on some of the Bloc's consolation prizes, which came in its announced victories over Liberal ministers Liza Frulla, Pierre Pettigrew and Jacques Saada, in addition to the Bloc's capture of two other Liberal seats in Gatineau and Brome-Missisquoi. "We have made historic breakthroughs," he said.
The Bloc started off the campaign wanting to improve on its standing in the House, where it had 54 of the province's 75 seats, but also on its overall share of the vote, which stood at 48.8-per-cent in the 2004 election. Mr. Duceppe had even mused about taking more than half of the vote.
According to partial results, the Bloc was set to win 51 seats and take about 43 per cent of the popular vote. In his speech, Mr. Duceppe said he will co-operate with a Conservative government if prime-minister-designate Stephen Harper wants to work on behalf of Quebec's interests and respect the values of the province. Mr. Duceppe said the election results, however, show that Quebec and the rest of Canada have different political values.
"We are not going in the same direction," he said. "Quebec needs to have all of the powers of a sovereign country."
The Bloc retained a substantial majority of ridings in Quebec and made gains in traditionally Liberal areas, but it lost a number of seats to the Conservatives in the eastern part of the province.
Bloc MP Rhéal Ménard did not hide his disappointment as a number of his colleagues lost their seats, but he said the overall situation has not changed for the party.
"We remain the main political force in Quebec, which is the most important thing for us," he said.
Mr. Ménard added that the Bloc will "now have the Conservative Party in our sights."
According to early results, the Bloc was set to win about 50 seats and take much less than the absolute majority of the votes, which Mr. Duceppe had openly mused about last month.
The first re-election of a Bloc MP was announced at 9:38 p.m. when Raynald Blais held on to Gaspésie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine in eastern Quebec. The results in Gaspésie, however, were a harbinger of things to come, as the Conservative candidate finished a surprisingly close second behind Mr. Blais.
As the ballots were being counted, the Conservatives posted a strong showing especially in the Quebec City area, eating into Bloc support in francophone ridings.
Other results gave the hundreds of supporters a reason to cheer, as the Bloc took the lead in a few Liberal ridings in the Montreal area and in western Quebec.
Some of the biggest cheers came as May Chiu, the Bloc candidate running against Liberal Leader Paul Martin, was initially shown to be in the lead as early results came from Lasalle-Émard. The situation did not last, but Bloc supporters later went wild as Liberal ministers were defeated. Another round of cheers came as the networks announced the election of a Conservative government.
"A minority is good news for us," said Mr. Ménard, who was re-elected in Montreal.