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Non-francophones are not impressed by how Health Minister Gaétan Barrette is handling the crisis at the McGill University Health Centre and it may hurt the Liberals in the next election, a new Montreal Gazette poll shows.

A majority of non-francophones surveyed last week said:

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• They are following MUHC developments closely (64 per cent).

• The quality of care at the MUHC has got worse over the past three years (67 per cent).

• Barrette has not handled the situation well (55 per cent).

• Budget cuts are to blame for the hospital network’s woes (54 per cent), not poor management (18 per cent).

Even among the general population, more than half of those polled in the Montreal area said they disapprove of Barrette’s handling of the MUHC file.

“These are all numbers that should be deeply troubling for the Liberals,” said Mainstreet vice-president David Valentin.

“The MUHC issue is really breeding a lot of discontent. Clearly, the (government) narrative that this is about fixing the management (at the MUHC) hasn’t worked,” even among francophone voters, he added.