Since becoming prime minister, François Legault has tried to convince Quebeckers that they had a choice between the “reasonable” nationalism of the Coalition avenir Québec and the “radical” multiculturalism of Québec solidaire.
But in reality, he knew very well that the day they turned away from the CAQ, their first choice would not be QS. Even though it only elected 3 MNAs on October 3, it was the Parti Québécois that came second in the greatest number of ridings.
Mr. Legault’s objective was to wipe his former party off the map. He let his frustration show last week when he questioned the legitimacy of the election of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon (PSPP) in Camille-Laurin, which was favored by the forced withdrawal of the solidarity candidate Marie-Ève Rancourt, surprised to steal a PQ leaflet from a mailbox. It is very possible (even probable) that the outgoing CAQ MP, Richard Campeau, would have taken advantage of the division of the vote between QS and the PQ to get re-elected. Who knows what would then have happened to PSPP and his party?
Still, the PQ has retained its leader, who has managed to win the esteem of a large number of Quebecers, and here he is firmly in second place in the voting intentions.
The CAQ is still far ahead, and the next elections will not be held until 2026, but this is a completely new portrait that appear the latest Léger-TVA Nouvelles survey. A crack appeared in the armor.
Everyone expected that the renunciation of the promise to connect Quebec and Lévis by a highway tunnel would cause the CAQ to lose many supports in the region, but it was assumed that this would first benefit Éric’s Conservative Party. Duhaime, who is leading an intense raiding campaign.
That the PQ suddenly finds itself first ahead of the CAQ and the PCQ is surprising in a region where it has not had a single MP elected since 2014, especially since it has never made a secret of its opposition. at the third link, even though his voice didn’t echo as much.
This is undoubtedly a blow for the CAQ, but it would be clearly premature to conclude at the beginning of the end. Many voters will probably not forgive his about-face to the Legault government, but that does not mean that the 16 elected caquistes of the region should already start thinking about their next career. Putting things at worst, if they had all resigned in protest, the CAQ would still have a majority in the National Assembly.
For now, it is mainly QS and the PLQ who should be worried. While they both have much more speaking time than the PQ, neither has taken advantage of the most serious crisis that the CAQ has been going through since coming to power in 2018.
While the Liberals’ position on the third link has been somewhat fluctuating, QS’s opposition has been adamant from the start: the problem is less in the message than in the messengers.
Elsewhere in Quebec, this episode did not have a considerable effect on voting intentions. The abandonment of the project was generally perceived as good news that Prime Minister Legault is trying to present as a responsible decision based on scientific data.
Rather, the opposition sees it as a demonstration of the duplicity of a government whose word has no value. As dishonest when he tries to justify his about-face as in his defense of the initial project. And he has the nerve to want to do it again with a new tunnel dedicated solely to public transport.
The greatest danger for the Legault government is to let this image become embedded in people’s minds. If the CAQ was able to deceive voters who were as loyal to it as those in the Quebec region, who can trust it? What will be the next broken promise?
The Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, chose a very bad moment to indulge in antics during the study of the credits of her department. While the opposition parties were trying to find out more about the costs of the new tunnel project that she pulled out of her hat, Madame had fun taking up the challenge of placing unusual words in her answers. As if it was all just a game.