OTTAWA — The Conservative Party is seeking organizational ties with the right-leaning Action democratique du Quebec in the runup to the next election but their efforts have so far been rebuffed, sources have told The Canadian Press.

Two sources close to Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Tory campaign co-chair John Reynolds recently spoke with an aide to ADQ Leader Mario Dumont to discuss a possible campaign partnership.

An election call could come this month.

Dumont aide Alain Sans Cartier confirmed he has spoken with Reynolds, a British Columbia MP. Sans Cartier refused to say whether the two discussed a campaign coalition, although he added such a partnership was unlikely.

But he also mentioned the ties between the two right-wing parties, which share common ground on the role of the state, fiscal management, federal-provincial relations and the role of the private sector in health care.

"There are, in fact, what we could refer to as similarities among our supporters," Sans Cartier said in a telephone interview.

"Many of our supporters are also members of the Conservative Party and other parties, as well," added Sans Cartier, a former Conservative aide and organizer.

Another man with ties to both parties said the Tory leanings of some ADQ members could help the Conservatives strengthen their flagging organizational structure in Quebec.

Leo Housakos, the ADQ's financial director and a longtime Tory supporter, said the federal party would benefit from closer ties with the ADQ.

"What the Conservative Party needs are credible spokespeople who can raise the fortunes of the party in Quebec," he said.

"To achieve this, a Quebec lieutenant would be needed - something they don't currently have."

Sans Cartier served as an aide to Conservative minister Jean Corbeil from 1988 to 1992. He was also part of Jean Charest's Conservative leadership campaign in 1993 - a race eventually won by Kim Campbell. Charest has since joined the Quebec Liberals and is now premier of Quebec.

Reynolds refused in an interview to say whether he has sought a partnership with the ADQ, which received 18 per cent of the vote and elected four legislature members in last year's provincial election.

"We have spoken with everyone," said Reynolds. "But obviously, there are a great number of ADQ members who like our party and our people.

"So we will work with them, as we will with (conservative-leaning) Liberals."

The Tories have struggled to regain the support they enjoyed in Quebec in the 1980s under former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

Andre Bachand, the only Quebec MP elected under the old Conservative banner in the 2000 election, has said Harper's merged party has little chance of winning even one seat in the province.

Bachand has sat as an Independent since the Alliance merged with the old Progressive-Conservative party.

Recent polls put the newly merged Tories and the New Democrats at eight per cent in Quebec, a level of support that would once again leave the Liberals and the sovereigntist Bloc Quebecois with a monopoly in the province.

Harper has also tried to shake off perceptions that he's a Westerner who doesn't understand Quebec or its status within Canada.

Reynolds said the Tories "take Quebec very seriously," predicting the party will grab a few Quebec seats in the next election if Harper wins a minority government.

"We believe that Quebecers would want to elect at least a handful of Conservative MPs in order to be a part of this (minority) government," he said.

Officials with the sovereigntist Bloc Quebecois say they're also trying to court the ADQ, whose supporters include Quebec nationalists who may not support sovereignty but who identify themselves primarily as Quebecers.