CAQ leadership race: Drainville highly unpopular; Fréchette maintains lead

Bernard Drainville officially launched his campaign to succeed François Legault as leader of the Coalition Avenir Quebec in Lévis on Feb. 1, 2026. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot)

CAQ leadership candidate Bernard Drainville is highly unpopular, even within his own political party, according to a new poll. His rival Christine Fréchette is maintaining a comfortable lead.

Among CAQ voters surveyed, no less than 55 per cent say they have an unfavourable impression Drainville, according to a Pallas Data–Qc125–L’actualité opinion poll published on Thursday. The former PQ minister has only a 24 per cent favourable rating.

The opposite is true for Fréchette. She has a 51 per cent favourable rating, compared to a 24 per cent unfavorable rating among CAQ voters.

When asked “Which candidate would make the best premier of Quebec?”, 47 per cent of Quebecers surveyed answered “Christine Fréchette.”

Bernard Drainville only scored 17 per cent. The answer “neither candidate” garnered 22 per cent.

The new CAQ leader will be elected on April 12.

This poll, commissioned by Qc125, was conducted on February 21 and 22, 2026, among a random sample of 1,075 Quebec respondents aged 18 and over. The margin of error for the entire sample is plus or minus 3%, 19 times out of 20.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 26, 2026.