Quebecers support control of immigration, but not a referendum on it, survey says
The survey also addressed questions of identity that have been front and centre recently in Quebec politics.
Two-thirds of Quebecers would vote Yes in a referendum on their province’s assuming full power over jurisdiction, yet most do not want such a vote to be held, a new survey suggests.
The apparently contradictory findings are contained in a Léger Marketing poll conducted for Québecor that was published Tuesday afternoon, just hours after another survey conducted by Pallas Data for Qc125 and l’actualité magazine suggested that François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec had dropped to third place in voter popularity behind the leaderless Quebec Liberals.
The Léger survey found that while the CAQ continues to trail the Parti Québécois by double digits — in this latest case by 10 points — it remains in second place at 24 per cent, nine points ahead of the provincial Liberals and 10 ahead of Québec solidaire.
However, a series of additional questions on CAQ policy and how the public perceives recent comments by Parti Québécois Leader Paul St. Pierre Plamondon are also sure to receive attention.
When asked whether Quebec should enjoy full jurisdiction over immigration, 65 per cent of respondents said they would vote Yes in a referendum on the issue. Yet 43 per cent replied that such a referendum should not be held, 22 per cent refused to answer and 34 per cent supported the idea of holding a provincewide vote.
The survey also addressed questions of identity that have been front and centre recently in Quebec politics. Asked if the future of the French language would be assured if Quebec separated from Canada, 47 per cent said yes while 40 per cent said no and another 14 per cent refused to answer.
Yet when the same respondents were asked if the French language would disappear if Quebec remained within Canada, just 39 per cent per cent said yes while 55 per cent said no, with six per cent refusing to answer.
The survey also appeared to address controversial remarks made by St. Pierre Plamondon suggesting that Canada wanted to “erase” Quebec. Asked if “Canada is deploying a concerted strategy to harm Quebec,” 49 per cent of respondents answered no, 19 per cent refused to answer and 33 per cent said yes.