THE INTERVIEW

Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois, is fending off Trump by backing Canada. He still wants to leave us.

- KATIE UNDERWOOD

YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET, leader of the Bloc Québécois, is the familiar bespectacled face of the sovereignty movement in his home province. Among non-Quebecers, he’s known mostly for his zingers: at Mark Carney (“You say you’re a negotiator— perhaps with tax havens!”), at Alberta (“I’m not certain that oil and gas qualify to define a culture”) and Canada itself (“an artificial country with very little meaning”). But since the spring, when the Bloc secured the balance of power in Parliament—and a dictator started salivating at our southern border— Blanchet, one of the country’s most reluctant members, has decided to get onside.

Right now, cooperating with Team Canada is inarguably in the best interest of Quebec's industries, like aluminum, which has been hit especially hard by Trump's tariffs. But will the recent surge in feelgood nationalism—even among Quebecers— thwart the Bloc’s long-term vision (and Blanchet’s teenage dream) of a secular, sovereign solo act? He is skeptical, per usual.

You've said before that you've sometimes felt like a member of a foreign parliament. How was the welcome this time around?

Yesterday, I went to a tribute for Irwin Cotler, a former MP and a prominent figure in human rights. I’ve never had so many people ask, “Can I take a picture with you?” They had nice things to say about my performance in the English debate during the election. That was fun because, if you look at social media, I don’t have that many English friends.

Have you noticed things becoming chummier between the parties, given everything that’s gone on lately with Trump?

We understood, as Quebecers, that we were expected to collaborate—and this truce will last as long as we face the challenge imposed by Trump. But, as I’ve said before, there were conditions to that collaboration. We will keep saying that the French language and values inherited from