[LINK] "Liberals ‘disappointed’ by Quebec’s apparent lack of interest in Liberal leadership race"

[rfmcdonald]

The report of Postmedia News' Lee Berthiaume, published in Vancouver Sun, that the Liberal Party remains weak in Québec doesn't exactly suggest good things for the future of the Liberal Party as a federal presence in that province, or in Canada as a whole. This plays to the benefit of the NDP, which has made the province its stronghold.

Fewer than 15,000 of the more than 127,000 voters registered to cast their ballots in the federal Liberal leadership race hail from Quebec, according to new figures released by the party.

This compares to more than 16,000 in British Columbia and a whopping 60,000 in Ontario, and is in spite of the leadership race having had three candidates from la belle province, including front-runner Justin Trudeau and former astronaut Marc Garneau.

Even Alberta, not exactly friendly territory for the Liberals in recent decades, had more registered voters on a per capita basis than Quebec.

Revealed on the party’s website Monday, the numbers indicate a potential lack of interest in the party in Quebec — even though many Liberals feel any path back to power must run through the province.

[. . .]

Quebec is expected to be a key battleground between the Liberals and New Democrats on their way to displacing the Conservatives as government.

“It’s absolutely important just because of sheer numbers,” [former Liberal strategist Greg] MacEachern said of the need to win in Quebec in the next election. “You need some support from Quebec.”