Péladeau’s first day focuses on province’s economy
Péladeau’s leadership victory appears to energize sovereignists
Support for the Parti Québécois and its plans for a sovereign Quebec is increasing since the ascent of Pierre Karl Péladeau as party leader, according to a poll published Tuesday morning.
The poll, compiled by Léger during the weekend for dailies Le Devoir and Le Journal de Montréal, suggests the PQ would obtain about 34 per cent of votes if an election was to take place on Saturday or Sunday. The results are 6 percentage points higher than during the last poll compiled by Léger on April 11. The Liberals would hypothetically walk away with 32 per cent, a five-point decrease since April.
The Coalition Avenir Québec holds 20 per cent of votes while Québec Solidaire has 10 per cent, according to the poll.
When breaking down the votes per demographic, the poll suggests francophone votes support the PQ at 41 per cent — with the Liberals behind at 22 per cent and the CAQ at 23 per cent.
According to the majority of voters, Péladeau also would receive more support as premier (30 per cent) than Philippe Couillard (20 per cent), François Legault of the CAQ (17 per cent) and Françoise David of Québec Solidaire (9 per cent).
Péladeau, who reiterated his intentions for a sovereign Quebec after his leadership win, took the lead in several of the poll questions pertaining to the province's governance.
According to Le Devoir, the poll shows support for sovereignty also increased from 32 per cent to 42 per cent.
The majority of participants said they were likely to trust Péladeau over the other party heads to develop the economy, manage the finances, improve the education system, defend French and protect Quebec's interests.
The poll was conducted online with 1,002 participants over the period of May 16 and 17. The margin of error is of 3.1 per cent.
In May 2014, another Léger poll had placed the PQ in third position with 19 per cent of the votes for francophone voters and fourth with electors below 45 years of age.