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How seriously Premier Jean Charest’s Liberals are taking the threat of a PQ government was made abundantly clear before the campaign started.

Raymond Bachand, the finance minister, uncharacteristically waded into the private markets by vowing to use all means necessary to block a takeover by U.S. home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. of local champion Rona Inc. Many observers believe Mr. Bachand’s move was pure political strategy — a way for the Liberals to connect with Quebecers who are instinctively nationalist and claim some of that ground as their own.

It remains to be seen whether the Liberals would maintain that interventionist stance if returned to power. But one thing is certain: Their opponents are even bigger meddlers, vowing to shield Quebec’s corporate jewels like Astral Media Inc. from being bought and the resulting head-office loss than might entail.

That’s great for all the local suppliers and lawyers and accountants whose livelihood feeds from the money flowing out from corporate Quebec’s headquarters. But it’s a bad outlook for investors looking to make money from a change of control.

“As soon as you start intervening in the fluidity of the market, there is a discount” that gets applied on the company being traded, said Adrien Pouliot, president of Montreal investment firm Draco Capital. “There is a general chill.”

Quebecers have a higher tolerance for government intervention than other Canadians, Mr. Pouliot says. He gives the example of the Quebec Stock Savings Plan, a scheme created by former PQ premier Jacques Parizeau that offered investors generous tax breaks if they put money in new public share offerings for Quebec-based companies. He benefitted from the plan as his company was able to raise more money than it otherwise would have.