Loony Quebec Lefty Lifts NDP

Loony Quebec lefty lifts NDP By STEPHANIE RUBEC, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER MONTREAL -- The NDP is pinning its hopes in Quebec on an outspoken media darling who has succeeded at the impossible task of spicing up the dry fare of economics and the ho-hum election. Leo-Paul Lauzon, arguably the most recognized and eccentric accountant and university professor in Quebec, is often compared to that crazy uncle who embarrasses everyone with his heated rants and off-the-wall comments, which he punctuates with French expletives. But Lauzon's outrageousness also means he's one of the few federal candidates invited on Quebec TV news and talk shows. The NDP has such hopes for Lauzon that he has been given his own personal assistant, who schedules the flood of media interviews and accompanies him to events. "The future is on the left," declared Lauzon in an interview, joking that he's only a star in the eyes of his mother. He has the tall order of knocking off Paul Martin's Quebec lieutenant, Transport Minister Jean Lapierre. "The sponsorship scandal has made people understand what the true nature of the Liberal Party is," Lauzon said. "People no longer identify with Jean Lapierre and the Liberal Party." Lauzon, a prof at the University of Quebec in Montreal whose research on topics like privatization is helped by a $150,000 annual grant from unions, champions distancing Canada from the U.S. Lauzon joined the NDP in April, surprising many Quebecers who expected him to run for the separatist Bloc Quebecois. But Lauzon said he's never been a member of the separatist movement. [Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on December 12, 2005]