Shaken by a poll that caused his party to slip behind the Parti Québécois (PQ), Prime Minister François Legault promised Wednesday to “do better” to regain the trust of the electorate.
A survey conducted by Pallas Data for the Qc125 site and L'Actualité grants 30% of voting intentions to the PQ. The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) slips into second place and obtains the support of 24% of respondents.
“I am very aware that Quebecers are angry with me, and I will try to do better to regain their trust,” launched Mr. Legault in the corridors of the National Assembly. “I don’t want to start playing analyst, it’s a combination of reasons,” he added by way of explanation.
The government is going through a difficult period in the context of negotiations with the public sector, the granting of a subsidy for the arrival of the Los Angeles Kings, the increase in the remuneration of elected officials, the electoral defeat in Jean-Talon and the resurrection of the third Quebec-Lévis highway link project.
“It comes, it goes up, it goes down again, that’s life,” declared Wednesday the member for Vanier-Les Rivières, Mario Asselin, one of the rare CAQ members to speak out on the survey. “Well yes, it’s the first time” that his party has slipped into second place, he admitted. “It had to happen someday. »
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The previous Pallas Data poll, conducted in September, gave 10 percentage points more to François Legault's CAQ. The PQ, for its part, obtained 11 points less. “It encourages us,” said PQ MP Pascal Bérubé about this jump in voting intentions. “It certainly reflects what we hear from the population. There is a credible alternative emerging. »
Still according to the survey, the Liberal Party of Quebec and Québec solidaire now each receive 16% of voting intentions. “We have to work very hard to get to the government, you are right,” admitted MP Haroun Bouazzi at a press briefing.
Regional fractures
The Pallas Data survey displays regional breakdowns which show that certain supports on which the CAQ has been able to count since 2018 are in the process of fracturing.
In the Montreal metropolitan region, the PQ climbs to the top with 28% of voting intentions, in a sample of 620 respondents. It therefore collects five percentage points more than the CAQ. The Liberal Party is third, at 20%.
CAQ domination in the suburbs of Montreal also seems threatened by the Parti Québécois. Of the 376 respondents from the suburbs, 31% favored the PQ, while the CAQ obtained the support of 27% of respondents.
In the metropolitan region of Quebec, the PQ dominates with 35%. supports. Behind him, there is a triple statistical tie for second place between the Conservative Party (20%), Québec solidaire (18%) and the CAQ (17%). Pallas Data points out, however, that the size of this regional subsample, of 179 respondents, is modest.
Elsewhere in Quebec, the survey reveals a heated battle between the PQ, at 33%, and the CAQ , at 29%.
The Pallas Data survey was conducted on November 17 and 18 among 1,178 respondents; its margin of error is established at plus or minus 3%, 19 times out of 20.
With The Canadian Press and François Carabin