Article content

A new poll shows the struggling Parti Québécois has made up some ground in voter intentions, but Philippe Couillard and François Legault are still waging a fierce battle for first place.

As Quebec’s political season kicks off after a summer hiatus with party leaders already focused on the 2018 election, the poll shows the trend — that is to say the Liberals and Coalition Avenir Québec in a race for first place — is continuing.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or New poll shows it's still a two-way Liberal-CAQ race Back to video

While the PQ gained three percentage points among decided and leaning voters since July, the CAQ is still eating into the Liberal vote and continues to fare well with non-francophones despite the Liberals’ efforts to patch up strained relations.

The results are included in the latest Mainstreet Research poll conducted for the Montreal Gazette and Postmedia. For the poll, Mainstreet conducted live telephone surveys of 1,501 Quebecers from Aug. 8 to 10.

“The Liberals and Québec solidaire both shed support this month,” said David Valentin, the executive vice-president of Mainstreet Research. “The long-term trend is continuing; the Liberals are leading, the CAQ is in second and the PQ is third.”