Quebec will hold its general election on September 4, and the incumbent Liberals look to have lost the lead they began with while a new party works to spoil the Parti Québécois’ current lead.
Liberal Leader Jean Charest took a page from the federal Tories playbook and has made the economy central to his bid for re-election.
“Quebec better weathered the worst economic and financial crisis of our time than Canada, the United States, and Europe,” the Liberals claim in campaign materials.
PQ Leader Pauline Marois recently laid out her own economic plan, capitalizing on momentum that has recent polls projecting a slim majority for her party.
With the Liberals falling, Marois has focused her attacks on François Legault’s ascendant Coalition Avenir Québec, a centrist party that wants a 10-year moratorium on any new sovereignty referendum.
The PQ has campaigned hard on Quebec sovereignty, with a range of policies reinforcing the supremacy of the French language in Quebec and a possible sovereignty referendum if 15 percent of the population sign a petition calling for it.
The CAQ is focused on revitalizing Quebec by cutting taxes for the middle class, going after corruption, and finding ways to spur economic growth while improving social services.
The party includes both sovereigntists and federalists.
A survey conducted for La Presse newspaper released Tuesday found that the PQ has 33 percent of public support, compared to 28 percent for the CAQ and 27 percent for the Liberals.
According to the survey, the CAQ was up three points while the other two parties were both down a point.
A poll conducted for the Globe and Mail put the PQ at 34.1 percent, just enough to score a majority with 66 of the National Assembly’s 125 seats. The Liberals would score 28.5 percent of the vote, some 32 seats, while the CAQ at 25.8 percent would claim 25 seats.
That poll had the Liberals in freefall, the PQ steady, and the CAQ also up 3.1 points, or seven seats, from a previous poll Aug 14.
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