MONTREAL - Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe is telling Quebecers they need to be better informed if they're tempted to vote for the Conservative party next month.
During a campaign visit to his Montreal-area riding Monday, Duceppe urged Quebec voters to find out what the Conservatives have in store for them if the party wins a majority government.
"Certainly, I think they need to be better informed and that's what we're doing," said the Bloc leader at a morning news conference.
Harper's positions on the fiscal imbalance, the Kyoto Protocol and military issues don't mesh with Quebec's values, he said.
"We need to tell people this: We would be in the Iraq war if the Conservative party had formed a majority," said Duceppe.
"Issue by issue, they are in direct contradiction to the position of Quebec."
Quebecers almost unanimously support Kyoto to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he said, and regardless of what the Conservatives say, the issue of fiscal imbalance is not resolved.
Stephen Harper's promise to bring in tougher measures to deal with young criminal offenders perfectly illustrates what he calls the Tory leader's repressive tendencies, said Duceppe.
"Prison is a university of crime for a 14-year-old child," Duceppe said.
"You can be sure he'll leave jail a hardened criminal."
Quebec chooses to promote rehabilitation over repression, he added.
The Bloc leader said the Tories would copy U.S. President George W. Bush's form of government with "more weapons and prisons."
Federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon responded Monday afternoon by saying Duceppe was engaging in "an American-style fear campaign."
"He's trying to steer away from the debate on his party's relevance," Cannon said.
"He's trying to keep Quebecers in the dark but you can't these days. Quebecers are aware of the issues in this election."
If Quebecers vote for the Conservatives, it's because they don't believe the Bloc has brought them results in their 18 years in Parliament, he said.
The question of relevance has been dogging the Bloc campaign since the beginning.
The Conservatives are the latest to attack them on their usefulness and Duceppe was repeatedly asked in interviews on Monday to justify the Bloc's presence in Ottawa.
