Poll finds strong support for ‘religious neutrality’ bill

Health care seen as most important issue, survey shows

Eighty-seven per cent of Quebecers support a provincial bill that would bar people from giving or receiving government services with their faces covered and would create a framework for reasonable accommodations, according to a poll released by the Angus Reid Institute on Wednesday morning.

Of that, 62 per cent of respondents said they strongly supported the bill, compared to four per cent who said they strongly oppose it.

English-speakers were less supportive of the bill, though 67 per cent said they support it. The survey also found that 61 per cent of Quebecers disapprove of the provincial government’s handling of the surge in migrants who crossed the border illegally this summer.

The poll comes as Quebec is about a year from its next provincial election — it’s tentatively set for Oct. 1, 2018.

“These are going to be issues at the forefront, they may not be the defining issue, but they will be among the defining issues and they are important to significant segments of the population,” said Shachi Kurl, the executive director if the Angus Reid Institute.

Thirty-six per cent of respondents said health care was the most important issue, the highest percentage. The economy was second, with 12 per cent saying it was the most important.

Overall, 54 per cent of Quebecers say they disapprove of Premier Philippe Couillard’s performance, while 35 per cent say they approve. An approval rating that has been fairly steady for about two years.

Only François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, whose party pulled off a surprise byelection win on Monday, has a higher approval rating — 48 per cent.

He’s also the only Quebec party leader to have higher approval than disapproval numbers.

“What the survey tells us in general is that Quebecers are not particularly enamoured of, really, any of their provincial leaders. No one is above 50 per cent,” Kurl said.

Though, she said, it’s important to remember that approving of a politician’s performance isn’t the same as supporting them.

Some Liberals, for example, may disapprove of Couillard’s performance as leader but still plan to vote for his party.

The poll was conducted between Sept. 5 and 19. It used a “representative randomized sample of 609 Quebec residents.”