Article content

There’s still a month to go until the Oct. 1 Quebec election. Voters may not start following the campaign closely until the first of the three televised leaders’ debates, in two weeks. And many may not make up their minds until just before they vote.

But at this point, it looks as though the revolt of non-francophone voters against the Liberal Party that some people might have expected (hoped for?) isn’t happening.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Macpherson: Non-franco votes up for grabs? Only Liberals are grabbing Back to video

This election was supposed to be an opportunity for non-francophones to free themselves after nearly 30 years of electoral captivity at the hands of the federalist Liberals.

Their unlikely liberator was Parti Québécois leader Jean-François Lisée, whose promise not to hold a referendum on independence in the first term of a PQ government ensured that for the first time since 1970, secession would not be a Quebec election issue.

If that wasn’t enough, the PQ was no longer the leading alternative to the Liberals, having fallen to third place in overall popularity, behind François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec party. So, there was little remaining reason for the “pequophobia” — fear of the election of a PQ government — that been the primary motivation of non-francophone voters for nearly 40 years.