 However, in May Cardin abandoned his plans for a new party on May 8, 1945, declaring his desire to use the new party to bring about the "unity and equality" of both the province and the country as "an illusion", due to the failure of the more radical Bloc populaire canadien and other nationalists to join his movement and unite behind his leadership.One serious problem for Cardin was hostility towards him from former Montreal mayor Camillien Houde who had been interned during the war for his opposition to conscription and was attempting to lead his own group of candidates in the 1945 election.Houde held Cardin, who had been a member of Cabinet at the time of Houde's arrest, responsible for the decision to intern him.