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Also: Election season in Quebec is very much underway.

A mere 312 days before Quebec’s provincial election, Premier Philippe Couillard said his Liberals are up to the task. His comments were made before 1,400 supporters at the opening of the party’s 33rd policy convention. The crowd was at its most enthusiastic when Couillard took aim at new arch foe, the Coalition Avenir Québec and its leader, François Legault. Couillard did not once mention the Parti Québécois. Portraying Legault as an angry man mired in the past, Couillard said his best talent is “scrapbooking the latest polls and newspaper clippings into party policy.” He added that only the Liberals are prepared to create a Quebec that is “modern, welcoming, able to overcome obstacles and without limits.”

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Export Development Canada is forecasting that exports from Quebec will grow seven per cent this year and in 2018.“When you look at how Quebec is doing this year, you’ve got an aerospace sector that’s up 11 per cent, you’ve got an aluminum production sector that’s up 15.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis, you’ve got iron ore mining that’s up 10 per cent, engines, turbines, power transmission equipment up 23.6 per cent, these are some pretty impressive numbers,” said Peter Hall, EDC’s chief economist. This forecast would represent a rebound for Quebec, which experienced slight export shrinkage in 2016.