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Liberal Leader Stephane Dion doesn't appear to be fazed by a spate of criticism from parts of the Quebec wing of his party.

Steven Pinkus, the Liberals' Quebec wing vice-president for the anglophone community, has gone public with his belief that if the Liberals fight a spring election, the results "wouldn't be pretty."

He also told Â鶹ӰÊÓnet's Mike Duffy Live on Tuesday that Dion has allowed the party to lose good potential candidates because he has been too slow to act on their nominations.

Liza Frulla, a former Liberal cabinet minister who lost her Montreal seat in 2006 and supported Michael Ignatieff in the Liberal leadership race, blasted Dion in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

"He has no instinct," she said. "At a certain point, people feel it if there is something wrong, even if they don't know exactly what it is. But he, poor St�phane, doesn't feel it."

Dion is firing back and calling for the party to stop bickering and unite.

"Some people are very concerned because they don't want to lose," he said. "I'm telling them, 'Work together as a team with order and we will win.'"

In Fredericton, Dion told supporters that Liberals would do a much better job of debt reduction and environmental protection than the Conservatives. With Parliament on break this week, Dion is out trying to rally the troops in advance of a possible federal election.

Dion said the Liberals would:

• Say no to bulk exports of Canadian water;
• Cut poverty rates by one-third and child poverty by one-half; and
• Make university financially accessible to all Canadians.

But in Quebec, where the Liberals scheduled a pricey fundraiser in Montreal Tuesday night, Pinkus said the party needs to address serious issues, particularly when it comes to communications and selecting good candidates to run in the next election. He told Mike Duffy Live that he has offered several lists of strong candidates, but has received little feedback.

"Unfortunately, no matter how good the candidates that we were putting forward, they always seem to think somebody better is going to be right around the corner," Pinkus said.

"A lot of these candidates were left to twist in the wind and have since moved on, and that's a very frustrating thing for me."

Tim Woolstencroft of The Strategic Counsel told CTV.ca that the Conservatives have seen their numbers weaken in Quebec in recent polls. In February, the Strategic Counsel conducted a poll on leadership. Here's how the top four compare in Quebec (Canadian figure in brackets) on the question of who people trust most to be prime minister:

• Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Conservatives - 28 per cent (43 per cent)
• Gilles Duceppe, Bloc Quebecois - 19 per cent (n/a)
• Jack Layton, NDP - 18 per cent (12 per cent)
• Stephane Dion - 16 per cent (15 per cent)

"Harper -- an anglophone raised in Leaside (in Toronto), now holding a seat from Alberta -- is leading Dion in Quebec. That's extraordinary," Woolstencroft said.

Overall, "the Liberals continue to under-perform in the province of Quebec," he said.

The current standings in Quebec, out of 75 seats, are:

• Bloc Quebecois - 48
• Conservatives - 11
• Liberals - 11
• NDP - 1
• Independent - 2
• Vacant - 2

The Bloc remains the most popular party in Quebec, with 41 per cent support. Among opposition parties, the Liberals are running ahead of the Conservatives by a four-point margin (24 per cent to 20 per cent). The NDP are at six per cent digits, while the Greens are at 11 per cent.

The Liberals' strength relative to other opposition parties comes from its base in anglophone Montreal. Outside Montreal, the Liberals and Tories are tied, he said, adding that Conservative numbers have weakened in Quebec recently.

In addition to its internal problems, the party still has trouble connecting with the wider Quebec public, he said, adding the Liberals really should be at 30 per cent support.

But CTV's Roger Smith told Canada AM that despite all the griping that's been going on since the stinging loss of Outremont in last fall's byelection, there is no "Dump Dion" movement.

That doesn't mean there aren't real problems, he said.

Smith said Frulla told him in an interview Tuesday morning that there are 30 to 40 ridings lacking a nominated Liberal.

Former astronaut Marc Garneau threatened to quit the Liberals last fall because he felt he wasn't part of Dion's team, but has since relented and will run for the party. However, former MP Nick Discepola is also having problems getting his candidacy approved, according to The Globe.