(Quebec) On the eve of the start of the parliamentary term, a new poll carried out by the firm Pallas Data gives François Legault and his troops their worst result in voting intentions since the winter of 2016, when they were in the opposition. The Parti Québécois (PQ) of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon is now ahead of the CAQ government by 11 points, in the context where the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) has lost half of its voters in almost a year.
The results of this survey, which was carried out on January 24 among a random sample of 1,175 adult respondents, were published Monday by the magazine News and the Qc125 website. At the provincial level, the PQ obtained 32% of voting intentions, compared to 21% for the CAQ, 17% for Québec solidaire (QS), 15% for the Liberals and 12% for the Conservative Party. The margin of error is around 3%, 19 times out of 20.
For François Legault, who asked his deputies for discipline after a year 2023 marked by controversies (increase in the salary of elected officials, bitter defeat in Jean-Talon, return of the third Quebec-Lévis road link, subsidy for the arrival of Kings of Los Angeles at the Videotron center, historic strike in education, etc.), this new probe sets the tone for the new political year which begins in Quebec.
In October 2022, when he returned to power for a second term, the CAQ obtained 41% of the vote. In January 2024, it only has 21% of support.
The PQ’s lead among French-speaking voters is even greater, also analyzes News. For this subsample of voters, Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon’s troops obtain 37% of voting intentions, compared to 24% for the CAQ. The PQ also lead in this most recent poll in the greater Montreal region (against the Liberals, in second place), as well as in the Capitale-Nationale.
According to Philippe J. Fournier of the Qc125 website, these new results place the PQ in the majority zone, if elections took place this winter. The next general election is scheduled for October 2026.
As for the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), QS and the Conservatives, the new Pallas Data survey places the three political parties practically at the status quo, compared to the results obtained in the polls last fall.