Quebec Liberals lead PQ as election day draws near

CTV Montreal: CTV exclusive poll: Liberals lead An exclusive CTV Ipsos Reid poll is pointing to a minority Liberal government, Rob Lurie reports.

The Quebec Liberals have a strong lead over the Parti Quebecois with just days left before the provincial election, a new poll shows.

According to a new CTV/Ipsos Reid poll, Liberal support sits at 37 per cent among decided voters, which has remained unchanged, while support for the PQ is down four points to 28 per cent.

Liberal support is even stronger among Quebecers who are most likely to vote in the April 7 election.

Among those who said that nothing short of an emergency would stop them from voting, 40 per cent indicated that they support the Liberals, while 28 per cent are planning to vote PQ.

Support for the Liberals and PQ was even among Quebecers who opted to complete the survey in French, with each party receiving 31 per cent support.

However, the Liberals have a commanding lead over the other parties among those who completed the survey in English, with 83 per cent support. Meanwhile, the PQ have 3 per cent support among this group.

Other parties

If the election was held tomorrow, the poll showed that the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) led by Francois Legault would receive 19 per cent of the vote (up 3 points), while Quebec Solidaire would take 13 per cent support (up 3 points). The poll showed the Option Nationale would receive 1 per cent of the vote (down 1 point), while two per cent of Quebecers would vote for some other party – including the Green Party, and 7 per cent remain undecided.

Nearly one-third of Quebecers undecided

Three in ten Quebecers (28 per cent) say their vote is still up for grabs, while 72 per cent of those surveyed say they will vote for a certain party no matter what.

However, supporters of each party vary in their resolve.

Eight in ten (81 per cent) Liberal voters are committed to vote for the Liberal Party no matter what, compared to 78 per cent of PQ supporters, 57 per cent of CAQ supporters, 57 per cent of Solidaire supporters and 46 per cent of Option Nationale supporters.

Couillard tops Marois as ‘best premier’

Asked about who's best suited to govern Quebec, the poll showed that Liberal leader Couillard has 33 per cent support, while Marois and Legault each have 25 per cent of the vote.

Of those polled, 13 per cent said they believe Quebec Solidaire leader Francoise David would make the best premier, while 3 per cent chose Green Party leader Alex Tyrrell.

In a poll conducted mid-March, Couillard topped Marois when asked about which leader voters can trust, taking 29 per cent support over Marois' 24 per cent.

When it came to who would best manage Quebec's economy, Couillard was ahead once again with 33 per cent support, while Marois had 27 per cent.

The Ipsos Reid survey polled 1,012 Quebecers between March 28 and April 1. The poll is accurate to within plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

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