On top of everything else that’s going on in this world right now, will we soon have to start bracing for another gut-wrenching Quebec sovereignty referendum?

The next provincial election is still over a year away, but this week’s convincing byelection win by the Parti Québécois in Arthabaska is another indication that the separatist party is cementing itself as the prevailing choice of Quebecers and heavy favourite to form the next government.

By contrast, the Coalition Avenir Québec, which had owned this riding in every election since the party’s creation in 2011, was badly humbled, finishing a distant fourth. It will be difficult for the bruised and battered governing party to reverse its fortunes before the next election, with no heir apparent to its leader and founder, François Legault, who will inevitably be stepping down.

The Liberals have made their bed with Pablo Rodriguez, with whom they improved their vote in the almost exclusively francophone riding but still garnered only single-digit support. With Rodriguez, their chances of winning the........

© Montreal Gazette