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The Bloc Québécois campaign was targeted head-on by the Conservative Party after being hit by a round of friendly-fire from a senior separatist figure.

The twin hits rocked the Bloc out of his early-campaign groove, forcing Leader Gilles Duceppe to clarify his message in regions that are heavily courted by the Conservative Party.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper clearly enjoyed the episode, commenting that his government has improved national unity and transformed Canadian politics.

“I think that not only are we winning more votes in Quebec, we are changing the debate,” he said.

Earning splashy headlines in a Montreal newspaper, a senior separatist figure tore into Bloc campaign as an unappealing, left-wing clone of the NDP. Jacques Brassard, a former Parti Québécois minister on the provincial stage, argued the Bloc is losing touch with a number of Quebeckers.

“The Bloc Québécois is turning into a clone of the NDP, with the issue of sovereignty on the backburner,” Mr. Brassard was quoted as saying in La Presse.

“They have adopted a left-wing discourse, with all the themes of the left. I'm sorry, but that is not appealing to me. I don't recognize myself in that party,” he said.

Speaking in Sherbrooke, Mr. Duceppe rejected the allegation that he is turning his back on small-c conservatives. Instead of calling himself left- or right-wing, Mr. Duceppe said the Bloc is pragmatic, progressive and democratic.

He insisted that his party defends the views that make consensus in Quebec, regardless who is pushing for them.

While Mr. Duceppe has made parallels between Mr. Harper and U.S. President George W. Bush, the Bloc will make clear attempts to stop attacking right-wingers or the right-wing.

“I don't want to get involved in a battle over labels,” Mr. Duceppe said.

Bloc MP Claude Bachand said that if Mr. Brassard is still a sovereigntist, he is not “helping his cause.”

“It always hurt when you're hit by friendly fire,” he said. “The wound is deeper.”

The Conservative Party increased its attacks on the Bloc by pointing out that it has made more than 1,000 promises since its creation in 1990.

“This election is a time of reckoning for Gilles Duceppe and his colleagues,” said Conservative candidate and former senator Michael Fortier at a news conference.

Mr. Fortier said the Bloc has achieved no real results, spearheaded no major projects and created no employment.

“The only jobs that Bloc MPs have created in 18 years are their own,” he said. “A vote on the Bloc is a wasted vote – Quebecers are already realizing the Bloc can't deliver, and are already turning their back on this powerless party,” he said.

Mr. Brassard's criticism struck at the heart of the Bloc Québécois' problems during this campaign, in which it is defending itself against the rise in support for the Conservatives.

Mr. Duceppe was warned of a further decline in support in many rural riding in an internal report that was prepared by the Bloc's former vice-president, Hélène Alarie, months after the party lost seven seats to the Conservatives in the 2006 election.

“In our view, one of the fundamental weaknesses in store for the Bloc Québécois and which threatens its future (is that) the party has gradually positioned itself to the left of centre,” Ms. Allarie stated in her May 2006 report.

She underscored the party's urban “Montreal” vision of issues that alienated other regions, especially in and around Quebec City.

“It is our hypothesis that the Bloc is out of step with the profound conservatism of a great many Quebec City-Chaudière-Appalache voters,” she said.

Still, an expert on Quebec politics said it much too early to figure how Quebec will vote in the next election.

“The Bloc remains strong in and around Montreal. And if the Liberal support collapses, they may even win seats there,” said Université du Québec à Montréal sociology professor Pierre Drouilly. “It will probably lose seats in many rural ridings but we should be careful about predicting its demise. The public opinion polls show that the Bloc could still win a majority of the 75 seats in Quebec.”