Preston Manning, Reform's leader, took a tough approach on Quebec, rejecting as outdated the historic notion that the French-speaking province deserves special treatment because it represents one of Canada's two founding nations. Instead, he wants Quebec and the other nine provinces all to be treated equally. Quebec leaders have already said that with Manning as leader of the opposition, anti-French feelings in the rest of Canada will intensify. In Calgary, Alberta, Manning said the rest of Canada had nothing to fear from Reform. He also said that his party is no longer just a Western protest movement focused on local problems.
Some experts believe the Quebec separatists gave up important ground in the election.
The separatist party, the Bloc Quebecois, lost six seats, and with them its designation as official opposition. More importantly, the popular vote for the Bloc, which runs candidates only in Quebec, dropped to less than 40 percent in the province. That is significantly less than the 49 percent it received in both the 1993 election and the separation vote in 1995. Although he is from Quebec, Chretien is very unpopular in his home province because of his strong positions in favor of Canadian unity. He faced a tough fights in his home district of Shawinigan, a paper-mill town with high unemployment.