PQ MNA and Quebec media mogul Pierre Karl Peladeau is one tall drink of water in the eyes of Quebec voters, according to a new voter intention survey which sees the party adding 10 percentage points of support and winning an election with him in charge.
A PKP-led Parti Quebecois would beat a Liberal party led by Phillipe Couillard 36 percent to 30 percent if an election were held today, according to a Leger-Le Devoir poll issued Saturday.
The CAQ party would come in third with 19 percent while the Quebec Solidaire would gather about 10 percent, according to the poll.
The Couillard Liberals currently lead the PQ - currently led by interim leader Stephane Bedard - by a 36 percent to 26 percent margin, according to the same poll. The CAQ also has 26 percent of the vote. The PQ polled 21 percent support last month.
If the Parti Quebecois were led by leadership candidates Bernard Drainville or Alexandre Cloutier, they would only attract 23 percent of voter support, while the party polls only 20 percent with Jean-Francois Lisee at the helm.
Peladeau would not only retain 96 percent of current PQ support, he would also attract 22 percent of CAQ voters and 27 percent of QS voters, according to the poll.
"The catch about a poll like this is that it’s largely showing name recognition," said Political Scientist Bruce Hicks. "So right now he’s the big name, he’s a bigger name even than the premier so it's unknown whether that would transfer to actual votes in the election. He doesn’t stand for anything. He’s just a famous wealthy Quebecer and I think that’s what you’re seeing reflected in the polls."
Peladeau, who is expected to announce his candidacy for the PQ leadership, has the support of 59 percent of those surveyed in that potential race, while Cloutier had 21 percent, Drainville eight percent, Lisee four percent, Martine Ouellet one percent and Pierre Cere zero percent. Most of those surveyed are not card-carrying PQ members and don’t have the right to vote in the PQ leadership race.
The online poll interviewed 981 respondents between November 10 and 13 and has a margin of error of 3.1 percent 19 times out of 20.
The Liberals currently hold 70 of the 125 seats in the National Assembly and an election is not expected before October 1, 2018, which is 1,416 days from now.