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Fortin himself considered running for the leadership but in the end rallied to candidate Richmond-Arthabaska MP André Bellavance who ultimately lost to Beaulieu in an upset.

Fortin’s departure only adds to Beaulieu’s troubles. Considered too hardline, none of the remaining Bloc MPs supported his leadership from the start and only reluctantly rallied to him after he won. Resignation rumours were in the air.

Beaulieu’s arrival also sparked resignations by riding executives, while candidates who said they were thinking of running for the Bloc in 2015 election desisted because they found Beaulieu too radical.

In his statement, Fortin accuses Bealieu of living in the past and being far too dogmatic in his views.

“It is not in rejecting those who seem less ‘pure,’ and abandoning the rigour which has always marked the Bloc in favour of old formulas which you repeat over and over again that he will convince Quebecers to follow him,” Fortin writes. “This is not the way to serve Quebecers or advance sovereignty. In behaving this way, Mr. Beaulieu is dividing sovereignists instead of uniting them.”

There was no immediate reaction from Beaulieu who this summer launched a cross-Quebec tour to stir up interest in sovereignty. He got off on the wrong foot with the party, accusing past leaders of being too soft and hesitant with the sovereignty option.

He has made more headlines then the main sovereignist party, the Parti Québécois, which is headed into a leadership race following the resignation of Pauline Marois.

With Fortin’s departure, the remaining Bloc MPs are Claude Patry, MP for Jonquière-Alma, Louis Plamondon in Bas-Richelieu-Nicolet-Bécancour, and Bellavance.