Gilles Duceppe

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In recent years, support for the Bloc Québécois has plummeted to such an extent polls now show the party is tied with the Conservatives at 30 per cent in Quebec.

The sovereigntist party faces an uphill battle in the Oct. 14 election, but that suits leader Gilles Duceppe just fine. He has never shied away from a fight.

The Montreal native showed his pluck as early as Grade Six, when he complained that his Anglophone classmates were being given preferential treatment. When his teacher responded by slapping him, Duceppe slapped her back.

As a young man, Duceppe embraced communist ideology and even joined the Workers Communist Party. He became so militant about communism, he was fired from his job as a hospital orderly.

Duceppe later became a trade union negotiator.

In 1990, he became the first person to win a seat in Parliament running on the Bloc Quebecois’ platform. (He was forced to run as an independent because the Bloc had not yet been registered as a political party.) Duceppe’s victory in that Montreal by-election proved the Bloc had support among Quebec voters.

Six years later, when legendary leader Lucien Bouchard stepped down, Duceppe saw his chance. Michel Gauthier took over as party leader but proved to be ineffective. Duceppe and other party members forced him out, and Duceppe took his place.

As head of the Bloc Quebecois, Duceppe has also served as the Leader of the Opposition. That position entitled him to membership in the Queens Privy Council for Canada. But the man who once drew inspiration from renowned separatist Rene Levesque rejected that membership.

The Bloc lost seats in the next two federal elections. Although Duceppe came under fire for the lacklustre results, he refused to roll over. And he came out swinging in the 2004 federal campaign, blasting the Liberals over the sponsorship scandal. He also impressed audiences with his eloquence in various debates. As it turned out, the Bloc made great gains in the election and the party won 54 seats.

But the Bloc lost three seats in the last federal election, leaving the party rank and file hoping their resilient leader will rise to the occasion again.

Duceppe jumped into the fray on the first day of the campaign, accusing the Conservative Party of standing for big oil, guns and right-wing ideology. He even compared Harper to U.S. President George W. Bush.

So far, so good.