MONTREAL - Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has no plans of according Quebec special powers if elected prime minister.
Still he hopes Quebecers will see him as the "other choice" and vote for him.
Speaking before more than 1,100 supporters at a fundraiser in Montreal Thursday night, Ignatieff called on Quebecers to help rebuild the Liberal party and the country.
Noting Canada needs a "uniter not a divider," Ignatieff slammed Prime Minister Stephen Harper for wasting a $13 billion surplus that could have been used during the current economic crisis.
He also suggested the Bloc Quebecois isn't the answer.
Ignatieff's comments came hours after he told The Canadian Press that he has no plans to change the rules of federalism, adding Quebec Premier Jean Charest has all the power he needs.
While he remains open to discussing concrete proposals from Quebec, Ignatieff said he sees no reason to change the current rules of federalism.
"It's working well," he said, adding the federation is already decentralized, which he called a good thing.
And he said he "sees no need to increase either the central government's power or the power of the provinces."
Thursday's fundraiser marked Ignatieff's second major appearance in the province.
During his last visit in March, Ignatieff reached out to Quebecers, asking them for a chance to prove he's got their interests at heart.
He told delegates at the general council meeting of the party's Quebec wing that many Quebecers voted for the Bloc Quebecois not because of its policies, but out of pride.
He suggested that under a Liberal government, there would be "no contradiction" between Quebec pride and "the grand and beautiful experience that is Canada."
While short on policy details, he said at the time that Quebecers could count on him to tackle issues like renewable energy, forestry, aeronautics and culture.
In the weeks and months after that appearance, several opinion polls showed Liberal support in Quebec was growing.
That just eight months or so after the financially broken party posted its second worst election showing in history.
With the federal sponsorship scandal still lingering in the minds of many Quebecers, the Liberals took just 14 of the province's 75 seats.
Pundits also blame former Liberal leader Stephane Dion, the man behind the much maligned Clarity Act, for the party's poor showing in October.
The Bloc won the most Quebec seats with 49, while the Tories took 10 -- one seat less than the previous election.
But just as Ignatieff is trying to drum up support in La Belle Province, so to is Prime Minister Stephen Harper who was in Quebec City earlier this week to announce $12 million in funding for the Institut national d'optique.
An impressive crowd turned out for a Conservative fundraiser in Montreal last week where Harper slammed his adversaries and described his party as "open federalists" who've recognized Quebec as a nation and even invited the province to take part in UNESCO debates.
Still, pollsters suggest the Harper Conservatives may well have irreversibly damaged their support base in Quebec.
Despite successes early on in his mandate, the Tories alienated many in the province with cuts to culture programs and its policies on youth crime.
Harper's decision to attack the Liberals for making a deal with "separatists" during the post-election confidence crisis that nearly resulted in a coalition government also left a bad taste in the mouths of many Quebecers.
