The renewed threat of separation, an unhinged U.S. president attacking Canada and a dire economic landscape are the backdrop to a Quebec election the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

The Parti Québécois has the most to lose. It has been so giddy with its first-place standing in the polls that its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, hasn’t given enough thought to the fact that 70 per cent of Quebecers don’t want a referendum, much less separation.

Yes, the PQ is in first place, polling at 30 per cent. That’s exactly what you’d expect. It’s what happens with the other 70 per cent of voters that will determine the result of the Oct. 5 vote. Many of those voters are looking for one main thing: the party that can defeat the separatists. As highly respected pollster Jean-Marc Léger recently said, the federalist party of choice to beat the PQ is now Christine Fréchette’s Coalition Avenir Québec, rather than the Quebec Liberals.

Fréchette has been outstanding in the leadup to the election. Sure, she’s the premier and has taken full advantage of her incumbency, making announcements across the province all summer. But she’s also been strong and consistent in her opposition to a referendum and has set a welcome new........

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