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But what is money without power, so Legault also came armed with the traditional demands of Quebec premiers for more powers: more power over immigration, in which Quebec is already all but sovereign, notwithstanding its membership in a federation whose borders are controlled by the federal government and whose citizens are permitted to move freely about the country; and more power over the collection of income taxes.

Come again, you ask? Doesn’t Quebec already collect its own income tax, uniquely among the provinces, thus imposing upon its long-suffering citizens the obligation to fill out not one but two separate forms at income tax time? Yes: Legault’s proposed solution is for Quebec to collect the federal tax, as well.

There are three things to note about Legault’s list, beyond its outrageousness. One, it is only preliminary: Legault was at pains to note that there would be more. Two, even if fulfilled to the letter, it will not actually be enough to win his support — “I won’t support any federal party,” he said as he emerged from a meeting with the prime minister in Sherbrooke on Thursday — but only avert his active hostility.

And three: if his intent was to set off a bidding war among the federal parties, he needn’t have bothered. With the Quebec vote in play this election, thanks to the collapse of the NDP and the Bloc, in a way it has not been in decades, the bidding war started long ago.