Duceppe badly trails NDP in his riding
Already struggling in the province, Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe appears to be in trouble in his old riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie.
A CROP poll conducted for the New Democratic Party but leaked to the media Wednesday shows NDP incumbent MP Hélène Laverdière far ahead of Duceppe in voter intentions in the riding.
According to CROP, Laverdière has the support of 57 per cent of voters in the riding. Duceppe, who represented the riding for 20 years before losing to Laverdière in the 2011 orange wave, is behind with the support of 20 per cent of voters.
Liberal candidate Christine Poirier is polling in third place with 15 per cent of the vote. The Green candidate, Cyrille Giraud, is fourth with 4 per cent of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Daniel Gaudreau, is at 2 per cent.
The telephone poll was conducted from Aug. 27 to 29. A total of 377 voters were called.
The NDP was officially not commenting on the poll, but indicated it was commissioned as a test to see how well party leader Tom Mulcair’s message was going over among voters or whether adjustments were needed.
The NDP campaign to Quebecers thus far has been that it’s time to replace the Conservatives and Stephen Harper.
The Laurier Sainte-Marie poll comes one day after a Mainstreet/ Postmedia poll indicates the NDP vote on the island of Montreal has stabilized at 33 per cent compared with 31 per cent for the Liberals. The Conservatives are at 9 per cent and the Bloc 8 per cent.
The results in Laurier-SainteMarie appear to have surprised the Bloc, which says its internal numbers have Duceppe coming out ahead.
Asked about the numbers while campaigning in Abitibi Wednesday, Duceppe told TVA he believes his chances of winning are still good. He is spending one day a week campaigning in the riding.
“I am working very hard,” Duceppe said. “I have always acted this way. I lost the last time, but I won several times. I have to convince people. I feel a warm welcome in my riding.”
In the 2011 election, Laverdière, the NDP foreign affairs critic, earned 46 per cent of the vote, defeating Duceppe who later resigned. He is trying for a political comeback in this campaign.