A surge in support for the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) has put the second-place party in the Quebec National Assembly ahead of the Quebec Liberal Party in voter intention, according to a new poll.
The poll suggests the CAQ has the support of 32 per cent of decided voters. The Liberals come in with 31 per cent support with the Parti Québécois (PQ) trailing at 24 per cent.
Québec Solidaire is now at 11 per cent.
The poll was conducted by Mainstreet for the Montreal Gazette and Postmedia.
Support for the CAQ is up by nine percentage points from March. The Liberals are down eight points while support for the PQ slipped by two percentage points.
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This is the first time since the last election that the Liberals have slipped out of the lead in a poll.
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The numbers indicate support for Quebec’s Liberals have taken a hit since reports of ethics concerns in the media during the last few weeks, including a leak from UPAC that former Liberal premier Jean Charest was under police surveillance.
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“Ask me on Oct. 1, 2018,” said PQ Leader Jean-François Lisée, referring to the upcoming provincial elections.
“We think we have a sound plan, we have a great team, we have the good answers to the problems of Quebecers and we think we’ll win the day.”
The Liberals still have the majority of support of non-francophone voters, with 77 per cent.
Mainstreet surveyed 1,501 Quebecers on May 11 and 12. The poll has a margin of error of +/-2.53 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
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