Péquistes No. 1 at 41 per cent

If there is a silver lining to be found in the latest dismal poll figures for Jean Charest’s Liberals released today, it is that the party has at least been holding steady in terms of voter antipathy over the last few months.

But with an unprecedented 76 per cent of voters saying they’re dissatisfied with Quebec’s government amid calls for public inquiries into the construction industry and party financing, it would be difficult for the figures to get much lower.

The Parti Québécois under Pauline Marois would be the new governing power if provincial elections were held today and could win a majority, according to a new poll conducted for The Gazette and Le Devoir. Forty-one per cent of respondents said they would vote for the PQ, compared with 30 per cent for Jean Charest’s Liberals and 13 per cent for the Action démocratique. Marois was also the most popular leader, with 25 per cent saying she would make the best premier. Only 18 per cent chose Charest, a drop of 10 per cent since February.

The poll of 1,015 people conducted from June 7 to 10 by Léger Marketing also found 39 per cent of respondents would cast their vote for the Bloc Québécois if federal elections were held today. The Liberals would garner 25 per cent of the vote, the Conservatives 18 per cent.

The 76 per cent of respondents who said they were dissatisfied with Charest’s government is an increase of almost 20 per cent from the start of the year. That level of dissatisfaction is seen as exceptional in Quebec, where the two major parties generally hang on to at least a third of the vote and elector dissatisfaction crests in the high 50s.

"We had already seen over the last couple of months the steep decline in (Liberal support) had kind of bottomed out in the mid-20s, and we’re still in that same position," said Christian Bourque, vice-president of research for Léger Marketing. "So although the end of spring was not better for the Charest government, it does seem that the bleeding has stopped."

The new figures show the PQ polling higher in the traditional Liberal bastion of Montreal, with 40 per cent of voters from the Montreal region saying they would go PQ, as opposed to 36 per cent for the Liberals.

The numbers indicate that even traditional Liberal voters are saying they would vote for another party during what has been a difficult period for Charest’s government. In early May, the premier fired his family minister, Tony Tomassi, after it came out he was using a credit card given to him by a private security firm for personal use. And for months, Charest has been fending off opposition calls for a public inquiry into the construction industry and how party financing is handled.

"With all that we’ve seen, when people are standing by the coffee machine, nobody’s going to say, ‘Hey guys, I’m a proud Liberal,’ " Bourque said. "I think (former Liberal) voters are waiting for a change in government philosophy and it has yet to come – something they can latch on to that will say, ‘My premier is taking me somewhere,’ … something new that can give them hope so they can get onside."

Support for the Parti Québécois in the poll was significantly stronger among francophones, with 49 per cent supporting the PQ vs. 23 per cent for the Liberals.

"With the PQ and the francophone vote, it would be in majority territory, even though their voting numbers are not stellar – the lead among francophone voters would be enough," Bourque said.

But among non-francophones, support for the separatist party remains paltry: Only nine per cent said they would back the PQ, while 64 per cent would support the Liberals. While the PQ has made inroads with such immigrant communities as the Haitians and some Latino groups, their numbers are not strong enough to change the traditional non-francophone vote, Bourque said.

Bourque saw one other ray of light for the premier. "The best thing about the poll for Mr. Charest is that it’s the end of the political year and summer is usually a better time for the governing party than the opposition. So I’m guessing he’s hoping we head into that summer quickly."

Pollsters also asked respondents their opinion of Quebec politicians. Pierre Curzi, a former actor and screenwriter who was elected a PQ MNA in 2007 in the riding of Borduas, received the highest approval rating, with 52 per cent saying they had a good opinion of him and 16 per cent having a bad opinion. Québec solidaire leader and Mercier MNA Amir Khadir was second (50 per cent favourable, 17 per cent not), Marois was fourth (42 per cent favourable, 44 per cent not) and Charest was 20th (24 per cent favourable, 68 per cent not). Yet among Liberal voters, 68 per cent said they had a good opinion of Charest. Among PQ voters, 81 per cent had a good opinion of Marois.