BBC:
In Quebec, the issue of independence from Canada has long simmered. But faced with US tariffs and President Donald Trump’s comments about making Canada the 51st US state, many voters are now seeking unity.
Suzanne Dumont knows who she will vote for in Canada’s election, though it’s a decision made “not from my heart, it’s from my head”.
The 70-year-old from Quebec City considers herself a sovereigntist, but hopes when Canadians go to the polls on Monday they’ll elect a majority government to take on Trump.
The Bloc Québécois, a federal party that supports independence and only runs candidates in the predominantly French-speaking province, can’t deliver on that, she says.
Supporting the Conservatives is “unthinkable” to Ms Dumont, so this time she will be voting Liberal.
In Montreal, Louis Plouffe is picking up groceries at the city’s Jean-Talon market.
He tells the BBC that he thinks the Bloc “defends Quebec’s interests well” as an opposition party in Parliament. Still, “it’s not being in power”, the 65-year-old says, and he wants a government with a strong mandate “ready for the wave that’s coming” from the US.
And while Mr Plouffe has reservations about the Liberal leader, he believes Mark Carney has come across as credible and confident in interviews. He too will vote for the party.
“Canadian patriotism is on the rise in Quebec”, said Émilie Foster, an adjunct professor in politics at Carleton University. “We prefer to be part of Canada instead of being part of the United States, if we have to choose,” she says.
Sébastien Dallaire, a pollster with Léger, puts it this way: “It’s hard to say now is the time to talk about Quebec sovereignty, or now is the time to do things specifically to defend Quebec, when clearly there’s a national crisis and everybody is staring not at Ottawa as the adversary, but as Washington as the clear opponent.”
