There's an old saying in business and politics: Never let a crisis go to waste.
The depleted federal Liberals - just 35 MPs strong from the party that ruled ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ from 1993 to 2006 - began meeting Tuesday to plot the latest iteration of their return from the wilderness.
And it's not difficult to get the impression that, in the minds of at least some federal Liberals, the road back to relevance, respectability and possibly power may be paved by a resurgent sovereigntist movement in Quebec.
With the separatist Parti Québécois returning to power in Quebec City, Liberals see an opening for the kind of brokerage party that made them what journalist Allan Fotheringham famously dubbed ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½'s "natural governing party" in the 20th century.
"It's more than an opportunity for the Liberal party, it's a responsibility for the Liberal party," deputy party leader Ralph Goodale said last week. "We've got to be particularly good at making that case."
Scott Brison, the party's finance critic, also made an explicit link between the party's future direction and the outcome of Tuesday's provincial election.
"The challenge for the Liberal party is to emerge as the party that can best unite the regions of the country to build an economy that works for all Canadians," he said in the lead-up to the three-day caucus meeting in Montebello, west of Montreal.
