New poll finds Quebec Liberals in the lead with 37-per-cent support, PQ at 32

[applegrove]

New poll finds Quebec Liberals in the lead with 37-per-cent support, PQ at 32

by Daniel LeBlanc at the Globe and Mail

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/new-poll-finds-quebec-liberals-in-the-lead-with-37-per-cent-support-pq-at-32/article17580258/?cmpid=rss1&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

"SNIP.........................


“The tide seems to have turned away from Pauline Marois and the PQ, at least for the time being, as just 33 per cent of Quebeckers believe that ‘Quebec is headed in the right track,’ compared to 67 per cent who think that it is ‘going down the wrong direction,’ ” the firm said in its polling analysis.

The PQ has responded to the series of negative polls by sharpening its attacks against Mr. Couillard. On Wednesday, the party also started to increase its focus on its proposed charter of secular values, which would prevent provincial government employees from wearing overt religious symbols at work.

The poll suggests that a key moment in the campaign occurred when Ms. Marois announced that media magnate Pierre Karl Péladeau was running for the PQ in St-Jérôme, north of Montreal. Mr. Péladeau’s vow to “make Quebec a country” brought the issue of sovereignty to the forefront of the campaign – and gave wind to the Liberal Party’s position against a third referendum on sovereignty.

“It’s a different game now leading into the leaders’ debate with almost three quarters (72 per cent) of Quebeckers believing that a vote for the Parti Québécois is a vote for a referendum,” Ipsos Reid said.

......................SNIP"

[applegrove]

1. Looks like Quebecers don't want to be manipulated into a separatist fever.

Last edited Wed Mar 19, 2014, 08:51 PM - Edit history (1)

[Ken Burch]

3. That is a condescending post.

Support for sovereigntism in Quebec was never based on manipulation...it's been based on history and reality, on the way that francophones have traditionally been treated by wealthy anglophones in Quebec(before the Quiet Revolution)and on the decades and decades in which anglophones in the rest of Canada refused to treat francophone culture as equal to anglophone culture, and refused to treat Quebec as an equal partner in the building of the country.

If you want Quebecers to move past the idea of sovereigntism, you need to work to get the Canadian government to do what it always should have done, and recognize Quebec as a nation-within-a-nation.

And don't be so dismissive of the importance of historical memory and the consciousness of being a colonized people...posts like that represent the sort of thinking that has kept the Parti Quebecois going.

[applegrove]

4. Rene Levesque tried for separation based on history and shared identity. He never tried to corral

francophones in quebec against newer immigrants like Marois has done. Levesque was a true democratic leader. She's using wedge issues. And it is not condescending to point out wedge issues are being used to manipulate. It may be how politics are done these days rather than in the 1970s in Canada. But I can still point it out.

[Ken Burch]

6. I'm not saying to vote PQ. And I agree with you about Marois-she's a disgrace to Quebec.

But you made no distinction between today's right-wing PQ under Marois and sovereigntists as a group(there are a lot of sovereigntists who hate Marois and all that she stands for...including her decision to make the party give Pierre-Karl Peledeau, a reactionary unionbusting media magnate, a nomination as a PQ candidate).

There's a great alternative to voting either for the right-wing PQ, the right-wing PLQ, or the right-wing CAQ party...

It's Quebec Solidaire. They are surging in the polls in the Montreal area and have an excellent chance of gaining more seats in this election.

Quebec Solidaire is the ONLY party with progressive, pro-worker, anti-bigotry, pro-social justice views that is electable this year.

It's progressive to vote for them...it's reactionary and hopeless to vote for the PLQ.

[NancyDL]

2. Good!

Mm. Marois is a menace.

[Ken Burch]

5. American readers of this thread should not be misled by the name "Quebec Liberal Party"

The PLQ is a party of right-wing corporate toadies, the party that pushed through the tuition increases that started the student protest movement in Quebec, and then passed draconian and anti-democratic laws AGAINST protests there.

The PLQ has NO progressive policies, is anti-labor, and is committed to the implementation of a brutal austerity program if it gets elected this Monday. They have nothing in common with the federal Liberals, either of Pierre Trudeau back in the day or of his much-more-conservative-and-unintelligent son Justin now.

The only progressive party on the Quebec ballot with chance to win seats(the PQ has now become a right-wing austerity party as well)is Quebec Solidaire. They are sovereigntist in orientation, but what matters is that they put the social justice, workers' rights and human liberation agenda first. They are the only fit party for people with left-of-center views in Quebec to vote for this time.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

7. Well put.

Too bad the New Democratic Party of Quebec was just formed in January. Its is being led by Pierre Ducasse. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Ducasse

[Ken Burch]

8. That's why everyone on the Left in Quebec should vote Quebec Solidaire today.

A strong showing by QS(they won't win, but it's possible they could take enough seats to get the balance of power in a minority asssembly, would be the best way to create a Left future in Quebec.

A weak showing by QS, on the other hand, will mean it will be much harder to build even a Quebec NDP.

BTW...it was really disappointing that Thomas Mulcair, the federal NDP leader and the MP for Outremont, endorsed a Liberal candidate in his area. He claimed the candidate had "a history with the NDP", but that's meaningless when you realize that, if elected as an MNA, that person will just vote for all the right-wing B.S. the PLQ leadership imposes(including the re-introduction of the tuition fee increase).