Quebec’s love affair with CAQ is cooling

MONTREAL – Premier François Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec continues to lead in voter preference in the province, a Léger Marketing survey for the Journal de Montréal suggests.

However, Quebecers’ ardour for the party that swept to power last year and won 75 seats seems to be cooling, with the CAQ dropping six percentage points since the last poll, to settle at 38 per cent.

That drop in popularity, not entirely unexpected for a party that enjoyed dizzying levels of support during its postelectoral honeymoon, has translated into a bump for the Quebec Liberal Party (27 per cent, a gain of six points) and the Parti Québécois (19 per cent, a gain of four points), both of which suffered devastating defeats at the hands of the CAQ in the 2018 general election.

If the latest survey results are a shot across the bows of the Legault government, it’s nothing short of a torpedo for Québec Solidaire, which saw its popularity drop by five points to 10 per cent in the wake of several controversies, including the wardrobe choices of MNA Catherine Dorion .

While the CAQ may have dropped in public affection, that slide has not translated into dissatisfaction with its conduct, with 60 per cent of respondents saying they are either somewhat or very satisfied with the Legault government, compared with 30 per cent of respondents who are somewhat or very dissatisfied.

Specific policies seem to have whittled away at the CAQ’s overall lead, with the manner in which it is rolling out its kindergarten for four-year-olds rubbing many respondents the wrong way (45 per cent dissatisfied compared with 29 who support the move).