Since the last federal elec- tion, Louis Plamondon has been the dean of the House of Commons, an honorific title bestowed on the longest-serving MP.

If you live outside Quebec, it is possible you have never heard of the honourable member for Bas-Richelieu-Nicolet-Bécancour. And if things had gone according to plan, Plamondon would be long gone from Ottawa.

First elected in 1984 as a Progressive Conservative when Brian Mulroney swept 58 of Quebec’s 75 seats, Plamondon was elected again in 1988 as a Tory. But in the six elections since 1993, he has won as the Bloc Québécois MP for Bas-Richelieu-Nicolet-Bécancour.

Formed as a response to what Lucien Bouchard depicted as the treason of Meech Lake, the existence of the Bloc Québécois was to have been transitory. It would cease to exist once Quebecers chose sovereignty.

Bouchard, a Conservative minister at the time, split with Mulroney when three provinces reneged on their commitment to recognize Quebec as a “distinct society.”

Instead, the failure of Meech fed a frenzy in Quebec, in which Liberal Premier Robert Bourassa used sovereignty as a bargaining chip and even business leaders warned darkly that Canada’s days were numbered.

That frenzy led to the 1995 referendum, when Quebec, spurred on by the charismatic Bouchard, came within a hair of choosing sovereignty.

The media in English Canada usually count two Opposition parties, even though the Bloc — with 50 seats this time — has always had more MPs than the NDP. In 1993, the first election the Bloc contested, the party formed Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, as the second-largest party in the house.

In the recent election, the Conservatives were convinced the Bloc could no longer justify its existence. They bet Quebecers would return as many as 25 Conservatives, enough to give Stephen Harper a majority.

The mantra of Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe was that only his party could block a Conservative majority — not a strong enough argument to counter the Tory pitch that Quebec should elect Conservatives.

But Duceppe had incredible luck halfway through the campaign: Harper played into his hands. The Tories argued that Bloc MPs had cost Quebecers $350 million, without forming a government. Duceppe shot back that the Bloc MPs were the people’s choice. The Tory minister spearheading the attack, Senator Michael Fortier, was not elected.

Ka-ching!

Duceppe also won points in Quebec by siding with the artists who lost $45 million in federal grants when Harper said ordinary Canadians could not relate to “whining” artists. And Harper renewed his call to treat juvenile offenders like adult criminals, also helping the Bloc.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest, making the point that his Liberal Party is totally independent of any federal party, called on Harper to restore the grants and agreed with the Bloc that young offenders should be treated like kids with social problems.

Charest also called for increased federal transfers for post-secondary education, putting himself on the same wavelength as the Bloc, which now bills itself as the defender of Quebec’s interests and values in Ottawa.

If Quebec was not part of Canada, Harper would lead a majority government today. But with help from Charest and Harper, the Bloc took 38% of the vote and two-thirds of Quebec’s seats. Quebec is part of Canada and the Bloc has become a key player in Canadian politics — as Louis Plamondon’s role as acting Speaker in the House of Commons on the first day of sitting illustrates. IE