BQ should resume sovereignty push: Duceppe

It's time to push for the Bloc Québécois to push for sovereignty again, Gilles Duceppe told MPs and party members who strongly endorsed his leadership at a meeting Saturday.

That goal "is as pertinent as ever," he told about 300 supporters in Saint-Hyacinthe, about 50 kilometres east of Montreal.

Duceppe was angry after Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff backed the Conservative budget last week, and said the budget shortchanged Quebec in favour of Ontario.

"With Mr. Ignatieff, the signal is very clear," he said, comparing the Liberals and the Conservatives. The Liberals back multiculturalism, a policy forced on Quebec, and imposed the Constitution on the province, he said. 

He was supported by 94.8 per cent of  the votes cast at the meeting. At the last confidence vote, in October 2007, he won 95.4 of the votes.