Bloc MPs to gather near Ottawa with U.S. tariffs, Quebec election in focus

OTTAWA – Bloc Québécois MPs will gather near Ottawa to prepare for the return of Parliament, with the impact of the Canada-U.S. trade dispute expected to loom large over their discussions.

The caucus will meet in Cantley, Que., in the Outaouais region, in Quebec, less than 20 kilometres from Parliament Hill, before MPs return to the House of Commons on Monday.

Throughout the summer, the Quebec sovereigntist party has proposed the government provide more support for businesses hit hard by U.S. tariffs, as successive rounds of duties and tariff threats have escalated concerns about the economy and the cost of living.

The party also spent considerable resources and energy this summer trying unsuccessfully to win a federal byelection in Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, in Quebec’s Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean region.

Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet made several trips to the riding, while neighbouring Bloc MPs Mario Simard and Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe devoted significant time to candidate Caroline Dubé’s campaign race.

Liberal Daniel Gobeil ultimately won the Aug. 31 byelection, taking a riding that had been held by Conservative Richard Martel since 2018. Martel resigned his seat after accepting an appointment to the Senate.

The campaign also gave the Bloc an opportunity to highlight its efforts to protect supply management, the system that regulates production and imports in Canada’s dairy, poultry and egg sectors.

Bloc-sponsored legislation that limits the federal government’s ability to make concessions on supply management in future international trade agreements became law last year.

The legislative measure returned to the forefront this summer as Canada and the United States came close to reaching an agreement that could have eased their trade dispute.

There was speculation that Ottawa had considered concessions on supply management, something the Liberal government always denied. Canada eventually walked away from the negotiating table with the U.S., in August, without reaching an agreement.

Since then, further tariffs and threats of tariffs have kept trade tensions at the forefront, along with concerns about their effects on the economy and the cost of living.

The Bloc will begin the parliamentary session without Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, who served as a Bloc Québécois MP before leaving federal politics to run for the Parti Québécois in the Oct. 5 provincial election.

The Bloc and the PQ operate at the federal and provincial levels respectively, and both advocate for Quebec independence.

Bloc MPs will therefore also be watching Quebec’s provincial election campaign closely as it enters its final weeks.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2026.