Provincial election results reinforce Liberal pain, Tory and NDP gains

Fewer total votes were cast in favour of conservative candidates in the five provinces that went to the polls this fall than the federal Conservative Party received in those same five provinces in the spring federal election. But the results in the provinces are part of a trend of faltering support for the Liberals and gains for the Conservatives and the New Democrats over the last four years. 

You can read the rest of the article on The Globe and Mail website here.

On the endorsement front, it is worth noting that André Bellavance, MP for Richmond-Arthabaska and apparently the only sitting Bloc MP that will endorse one of the candidates (Jean-François Fortin and Maria Mourani being the sitting MPs running for the leadership, and Louis Plamondon stating he will stay neutral), has said that he will announce his decision as to who he will endorse this week.

As a four-term MP, he will be worth 10 points in the endorsement rankings. That won't be enough to put anyone ahead of Daniel Paillé, but if he opts for Mourani the two will be neck-and-neck. Bellavance recently had a fund raising event and both Paillé and Mourani attended and gave speeches, Fortin having another engagement.

In this little game of endorsements, Bellavance is the biggest fish to land unless Gilles Duceppe, Lucian Bouchard, or a former leader of the PQ endorses one of the candidates. But Plamondon, who is the longest serving MP from any party in the House of Commons, would be worth 22.5 points.