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Quebec's Liberal Party is set to form a majority provincial government, routing a bid by Quebec's main separatist party for their own majority. Liberals have won 41% of the vote, with nearly all ballots counted. Parti Quebecois (PQ) leader Pauline Marois has resigned in response to the crushing defeat, with her party only obtaining 25%. She dissolved the PQ-led minority government last month, after coalition partners blocked the party's agenda. Liberal leader Philippe Couillard will now become the province's premier. The election centred on PQ's controversial Charter of Values, which would ban public employees from wearing religious items, and a...

Corporal Yannick Scherrer Age: 24 Hometown: Victoriaville, Québec Unit: 1er Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment Deceased: March 27, 2011 Incident: Improvised explosive device, Panjwa'i District, Afghanistan.

OTTAWA - The Bloc Quebecois has a similar relationship to the Canadian body politic as the eponymous Alien had with the crew of the starship Nostromo -- that is, it would like nothing better than to burst through the chest cavity of its parliamentary host. Since the party's raison d'etre is to break up the country, its leaders are required to keep their distance from other parliamentarians and be dispassionate about all issues that don't touch on Quebec. Gilles Duceppe has been the model for all future separatist leaders. Never one to fraternize with anglos -- the Bloc prints all...

None of the three parties is likely to be able to govern on its own Canadians in the mainly French-speaking Quebec province are electing a new government in a tight three-way race. The poll has again raised the prospect of independence from Canada, with the nationalist Parti Quebecois (PQ) vowing to hold a vote on the issue if elected. It is seeking to regain power from the federalist Liberal Party and Premier Jean Charest who is seeking a new term. But both parties are facing a strong challenge from a new conservative group, the Action Democratique (ADQ). The ADQ...

For once not involving Air America, liberal talk radio took a big hit this week, as Ed Schultz lost affiliates in three cities. In an especially significant blow, the syndicated talker was cancelled in his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, from where his show remains based. According to Perry Simon of entertainment industry trade publication All Access, Schultz was cancelled in Fargo to make room for local programming, the same reason the Aberdeen American News has given for his South Dakota removal. And his Norfolk, Virginia outlet is switching to sports. While Aberdeen's KSDN is also dropping Rush Limbaugh for...

QUEBEC (CP) - Andre Boisclair is the new leader of the Parti Quebecois. Boisclair has become the head of the Quebec sovereignty movement with a first-ballot victory after a leadership vote by PQ members. Boisclair received 53.7 per cent of first-round choices, while Marois had 30.6 per cent and Richard Legendre 7.5 per cent. Boisclair will likely have to wait until 2007 before getting a crack at defeating the governing Liberals, although Premier Jean Charest can wait until the spring of 2008 before calling the election. The PQ leadership race was launched after Bernard Landry quit suddenly in June following...

Better with coke Why Quebecers love their gay, drug-snorting PQ leadership hopeful BENOIT AUBIN He's got the looks of a matinee idol, a grin that could melt icebergs, and, at 39, in a political formation made up mostly of white-haired veterans, André Boisclair still passes for young. So what better than a little political striptease to sex up his campaign for the Parti Québécois leadership even more? At the onset, he admitted he is gay, and "proud of living in such a tolerant society." Two weeks ago, he went on Tout le monde en parle, the province's hippest talkshow, and...

WE are frequently told by the Scottish Nationalists that it is time Scotland took its place in the world as a fully independent nation. The SNP is fond of citing the so-called "velvet divorce" that led to the separation of the Czech Republic from Slovakia as an example of civilised secession. Yet they are not so keen to draw our attention to events that do not fit their world view. Amid the stories of war, the threat of Sars and even the Scottish election you would be forgiven for missing an event of great relevance to Scots politics. Last week,...

MONTREAL - CBC News predicts a Liberal majority government in Quebec, making Jean Charest the next premier of the province. It is Charest's first victory as leader of the provincial party after stepping down as leader of the federal Progressive Conservatives. The Liberals defeated the ruling Parti Quebecois and Bernard Landry; and Mario Dumont's upstart Action Démocratique du Québec. All three party leaders won their ridings. In his concession speech, Landry thanked party supporters and congratulated Charest. "I have to congratulate very warmly the leader of the Liberal party who has conducted his troops to a very impressive victory...

CBC just projected a Liberal majority government in Quebec elections, Jean Charest premier-designate unseating separatist Parti Quebecois government of Bernard Landry. More later