The Parti Québécois's dominance in the polls for nearly two years and its leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's promise to hold a referendum on Quebec sovereignty during his first term have reverberated all the way to the federal capital.

Officials in Prime Minister Mark Carney's government held discussions this fall to determine how Ottawa should respond to the PQ's rhetoric in Quebec City, according to Radio-Canada sources.

So far, the offices of the prime minister, his Quebec lieutenant and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc have been involved in these conversations, according to two Liberal sources familiar with the matter.

The idea, one source said, is not for the federal government to become a counterweight to the PQ. "That's up to the Quebec Liberal Party," the source

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