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OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper returns today to Quebec, a province where his party hopes to make major gains in this fall’s election.

And he’s being honoured by a community which holds considerable sway over whether those gains will include a seat in Montreal.

The riding of Mount Royal is up for grabs this fall with Liberal MP Irwin Cotler stepping down.

About 30 per cent of the riding identified as Jewish in the last census – making the electoral district one of only a handful in the country where that community can swing an election if it votes en masse.

The Liberals have held the seat since 1940, but Montreal’s influential Jewish Community Council appears set to give its stamp of approval to Harper.

The council is a religious organization, primarily concerned with certifying whether products are kosher and on Thursday’s evening it will give the prime minister its King David Award.