(Quebec) After a series of polls that suggested that support for the tramway project was melting like snow in the sun in the capital, a brand new poll shows the opposite. Could this be the beginning of a timid “Marchand effect? »
Posted at 2:42 p.m.
Updated at 2:49 p.m.
Support for the tramway in Quebec has risen to 44%, according to a Léger poll conducted at the end of May for the benefit of the City of Quebec. A survey by the same firm, also commissioned by the City, came to 41% support last January.
This result certainly represents a small victory for Mayor Bruno Marchand, who had promised during the election campaign to better sell the project to the citizens of the capital.
“What we had promised was to meet the citizen to listen to him and discuss, and obviously, we are on the right track, indicated Mr. Marchand in a press release. Wherever we consult and inform more, membership increases. »
Support has especially increased downtown — from 47% to 54% in the La Cité-Limoilou borough and from 46% to 65% in Sainte-Foy—Sillery—Cap-Rouge.
The City had undertaken to carry out such surveys on a regular basis to measure the social acceptability of the tramway. It also organized numerous information sessions.
“The figures show a significant increase in the level of familiarity with the project, and the increase in the membership rate follows the same trend”, indicates Cyntia Darisse, vice-president of the Quebec office of the firm Léger.
However, opponents of the tram seem difficult to convince. According to the latest figures from Léger, opponents of the project represented 52% of respondents last January, compared to 51% in May. The project therefore mainly sought support from the undecided.
The Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) of Éric Duhaime, which opposes the project, had also unveiled its own poll. The exercise also carried out by Léger concluded that only 38% of respondents considered the tramway to be a good project.
Contrary to the polls commissioned by the City, the PCQ’s sounding had however been carried out well beyond the limits of the City of Quebec, namely in Lévis, L’Ancienne-Lorette, Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Saint- Henry and Beaumont.
The most recent City survey took place from May 27 to 29, 2022 with a representative sample of 505 Quebec City residents aged 18 and over. As an indication, the maximum margin of error of a representative sample of 505 respondents is +/-4.4%, 19 times out of 20.