A new poll shows that Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives are gaining ground in the province of Quebec, where the party has failed to garner strong support in the past two federal elections.
A new poll from Pallas Data has the Conservatives polling at 25% in Quebec – just 3% behind the Liberals (28%) and 4% behind the Bloc Quebecois (29%.)
SCREENSHOT: Conservatives gaining support in Quebec. Pallas Data
By contrast, the Conservatives received 18.6% of the votes in Quebec in the 2021 federal election, and 16% of the votes in the 2019 federal election.
Nationally, the Pallas poll has the Conservatives at 39%, the Liberals at 30%, the NDP at 17%, the Bloc at 7%, the Greens at 5% and the PPC at 2%.
In addition to negative poll numbers for Prime Minsiter Justin Trudeau, the Pallas poll also casts a grim outlook on his popularity. Forty-seven percent of Canadians say they would be more likely to support the Liberals if Trudeau was not their leader.
SCREENSHOT: Almost half of Canadians say they would be more likely to vote Liberal if Trudeau was not leader. Pallas Data.
In Quebec, 44.8% said they would be more inclined to vote Liberal if Trudeau was not leader – with the latter being higher than in prairie provinces (44.6%) and the maritimes (41.4%)
Canadians aged 18-34 were the most likely to consider voting Liberal if they had a different leader (57.3%). Meanwhile, 52.3% of Canadians aged 35-49, 43.7% of those 50-64 and 33.7% of those 65+ said they were more likely to vote for the Liberal party if it were not led by Trudeau.
Trudeau was asked this week if he had considered the possibility that he had become a liability for the Liberals.
He responded by discussing polarization, and said “I’m going to continue working hard every day to build that future that we all know Canada can have.”
Last year, Quebec bore witness to the rise of a grassroots conservative movement, with the Conservative Party of Quebec and its leader Eric Duhaime making historic gains in the provincial election.
The provincial Conservatives went from receiving 1.46% in 2018 to 12.92% in 2022. The party, however, did not win any seats.
While the provincial Conservatives rise in support was attributed to many centre-right Quebecers being frustrated with Premier Francois Legault’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the party has maintained popularity even with the pandemic being over.
Polling averages on QC125 give the provincial Conservatives 9% support, hinting that it has maintained a base.
The Conservative Party of Canada will be holding its national convention in Quebec City in September. True North will be in attendance.
The Pallas Data survey was conducted between August 16 and 17, with a sample of 1021 Canadian adults. The poll’s margin of error for the poll is +/- 3.1%.
