It would be better to say that nationalism is still a force. Probably 20-25% of Quebec voters are hard-core separatists, who will vote for separatism regardless

It would be better to say that nationalism is still a force. Probably 20-25% of Quebec voters are hard-core separatists, who will vote for separatism regardless of other issues they might have with the PQ/Bloc. Another ~30% are nationalists and sympathetic to separatism to one degree or another, but not so wedded to separatism that they're unwilling to vote Quebec Liberal or federal NDP if the PQ/Bloc disappoint them as conventional political parties. That said, the Bloc's spectacular failure to turn the election into a last-minute pseudo-referendum on separatism certainly doesn't bode well for separatism in the near term.