Ten of the 124 seats won by the Conservative party in the 2006 election were in Quebec. Most of those were in and around Quebec City. In the early days of Stephen Harper’s reign PMO staffers joked that he was not just the prime minister, but also “the mayor of Quebec City.” The joke died with the loss of half of the Conservatives’ Quebec seats in the 2011 election. The new “mayor” of Quebec City and most of the province is NDP leader Thomas Mulcair. In this year’s campaign, it seems certain his party will sweep the province once again. The only thing standing in their way, writes Tom Kott, is another eruption of fear and anger over les autres – this time wearing the Muslim niqab.

Premier Philippe Couillard’s 10-month-old Liberal government in Quebec will never be mistaken for a Thatcherite or Reaganesque regime. But so far it’s sticking to its election promise to get the province’s finances under control, even going after such sacred cows as public sector pensions and subsidized daycare. Unions, the left and bureaucrats are mad, but the public remains onside with the government. Is Quebec’s political culture shifting right? Montreal writer Tom Kott looks at the plethora of signs pointing that direction…