Does tonight's French-language debate matter to the rest of Canada?

(Simon Druker and The Canadian Press) The leaders of all of Canada’s major political parties are in Quebec tonight for the French-language debate.

But how much does it matter to the rest of Canada?

University of Ottawa political science professor Francois Rocher says whatever transpires tonight in La Belle Provence will have a direct impact on the rest of the campaign, especially the NDP.

He says Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe will likely go after NDP leader Tom Mulcair “because that’s the party leading currently in Quebec and he will probably question the credibility of Mulcair’s commitment and overall political career. So, that’s probably the main target,” says Rocher.

There will be many Quebec-centric issues on the floor tonight, like the banning of niqabs at citizenship ceremonies.

But Concordia University’s Mireille Paquet agrees the bigger theme is the province’s role in the NDP’s fortune, come election day.

“The NDP still has more to win. The polls are pretty positive but they are not entirely positive. So I think the NDP still has a lot to win in making sure to maintain their advances in Quebec. The Bloc could see some great advances if they do a good performance,” says Paquet.

That would take away from the NDP’s 80 per cent stranglehold on the seats in that province.

The Bloc took only four seats in the last election. Paquet also expects the re-incarnated Duceppe to directly target Mulcair.

Pipelines are also expected to be hot button issues in tonight’s two-hour debate.