Quebec's political leaders made their last-minute pitches before citizens there go to the polls Monday in a race that's too close to call.
Premier Jean Charest painted the choice as one of unity versus division, with his party representing the unity option.
"The alternative is to support a political party that is going to divide Quebecers and divide our society with referendums, not only one but, if need be, (Parti Quebecois Leader Andre) Boisclair says 'I'll make more than one referendum'."
Boisclair said four years of Liberal rule have hurt Quebec.
"Was he a good leader?" Boisclair asked of Charest. "Quebecers will give their response to that tomorrow. I think the answer is no."
Boisclair is the only candidate campaigning on a separatist agenda, and polls suggest none of the parties will win a majority government.
Political analysts say Monday's vote will likely hold off any potential referendum.
While Boisclair has said he could still form an alliance with the right-wing nationalist Action democratique du Quebec to press forward a referendum, ADQ Leader Mario Dumont has dismissed the idea.
"Mr. Boisclair is trapped at this point because he realizes ... with a minority government, a referendum is impossible," Dumont said Sunday. "The ADQ will never support any other referendum."
Although Dumont supported separation in the 1995 referendum, he has since changed his position to one of increased Quebec "autonomy" within Canada.
Harper the winner?
With two federalist parties showing a combined majority of support in the polls, one analyst said Monday's results will likely benefit Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"Mr. Harper's got two horses in this race: (Charest) and Mario Dumont," L. Ian MacDonald of the Montreal Gazette told CTV's Question Period.
"If they both finish well tomorrow, that is to say, if there's either a slight Liberal majority or Liberal minority with Mario holding the balance of power, he'd have to look to going to an election pretty quickly to take advantage of the disarray in the sovereigntist tent."
Jean Lapierre, another seasoned observer of Quebec politics, put it this way: "If I were (Harper), I'd find a reason to pull the plug as soon as possible." He noted that areas where Dumont's ADQ are doing well are also areas where the federal Conservatives did well in the 2006 campaign -- or could do well in the next federal election.
Harper won 10 seats in Quebec last time. Growth for his party in Quebec and Ontario are seen as crucial to the Conservatives' quest to form a majority national government.
Charest, considered a good bet to renew his majority at the start of the campaign, could see himself losing a number of seats.
A recent poll conducted by The Strategic Counsel suggested 30 per cent of voters support the Liberals, compared with the PQ at 31 per cent and the ADQ at 28 per cent. The margin of error was 3.1 percentage points, putting the parties in a statistical tie.
Charest warned Sunday that a minority government would only weaken Quebec, and on Sunday he urged voters to support his federalist party.
CTV's Montreal bureau chief Jed Kahane said Charest is suffering from a political backlash, with voters upset over a long list of broken promises.
"Charest is deeply unpopular in this province after four years in government ... with a lot of decisions that were unpopular with voters," he said.
Kahane added that the federal budget, which gives Quebec the lion's share of transfer payments, actually had a negative impact on Charest's campaign.
"It didn't give him a bump in the polls. Quebecers had been demanding the money go towards improving services, and he turned around and said he would turn it into a tax cut," Kahane said.
"That seemed to many to be an electoral ploy, perhaps popular with the middle class, but it certainly gave him a hard time in the (newspaper) editorials and with the columnists."
With reports from CTV's Jed Kahane and Graham Richardson
