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Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe was celebrating Thursday but it had nothing to do with being cocky about Monday's federal election results.

Mr. Duceppe had Quebec's biggest holiday as the backdrop for his campaign and he used it to push his message at Fête Nationale events.

Liberal Leader Paul Martin, meanwhile, tried using the provincial holiday to dig up some votes Thursday, but received a mixed reception while taking part in a parade through a semi-rural village.

It's the first time an election has been held so close to Fête Nationale , also known as St. Jean Baptiste Day, since 1968 when Pierre Trudeau swept to power.

The night before the election, Mr. Trudeau had cut a defiant figure dodging rocks and bottles thrown by demonstrators at a St. Jean Baptiste Day parade.

But on Thursday, Mr. Duceppe had only to explain again that Parti Quebecois Leader Bernard Landry was just being “optimistic” when he speculated that the predicted election of 60 or so Bloc MPs on Monday would put Quebec well on the road to sovereignty.

“There's nothing new in what Mr. Landry said,” Mr. Duceppe told reporters. “If Martin has just learned we're sovereigntists, he's a little behind.”

Liberals including Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew and former cabinet minister Stephane Dion warned this week that federalists should not park their vote with the Bloc because of the dire consequences of helping sovereigntists.

But Mr. Duceppe has insisted the Bloc is only there to act in Quebec's interest in Ottawa, although he doesn't deny a big Bloc contingent would help sovereigntists in Quebec reach their goal.

The Bloc is expected to win most of Quebec's 75 seats and could hold the balance of power in a minority government. Duceppe has ruled out a formal coalition with Liberals or Conservatives but has left the door open to supporting the governing party on a case-by-case basis.

Mr. Duceppe was to make the rounds of some of the smaller celebrations Thursday and then attend an evening concert at the Fete, which had its funding reduced this year by the provincial government.

Revellers at the Fete nationale parade in Montreal had no doubt what the Bloc could do for them.

Asked if he thought a vote for the Bloc is a vote for sovereignty, Gerald Mantha, 63, enthusiastically replied: “Oh, yes, I think so.”

However, Mr. Mantha, of Laval, north of Montreal, said he didn't expect another referendum for a decade. He didn't approve of the Liberals' actions in Ottawa, singling out the sponsorship scandal.

“It's our party,” Mr. Mantha said of the Bloc.

Other people around the parade route in Old Montreal chanted “we want a country” and “Liberals out.”

Sonia Goulet was handing out stickers to urge people to vote on Monday although she insisted she wasn't pushing any particular party.

“It's really important for the Quebec people to be well represented and for this they have to be conscious they have to vote on Monday.”

She said she would be voting Bloc.

“It's clear in my mind,” she said, adding she believed the Bloc has done a good job on Ottawa. “I'm proud of them.”