Don Macpherson: For the Quebec Liberals, not just another byelection

Sure, it was just one byelection, in a single one of Quebec’s 125 provincial ridings. The next general election isn’t due for another year, an eternity in politics. And byelections are unreliable predictors of general elections.
No single riding’s electorate is typical of that of the province as a whole. This byelection was held in the Quebec City region, an electorally unstable, especially conservative political microclimate.
In a byelection, the choice of a government is not