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By Marian Scott

MONTREAL — Sovereignty is becoming as passe among young Quebecers as mullet haircuts, a new poll suggests.

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Voters under 25 are now less likely to endorse sovereignty than their parents and grandparents, according to the survey for the Association for Canadian Studies.

Just 32% of people age 18 to 24 would vote for a sovereign Quebec, compared to 34% for all age groups combined, according to the poll conducted the week of Oct. 16-22 by Leger Marketing.

Sovereignist leaders including former premier Bernard Landry used to say young voters’ enthusiasm for an independent Quebec virtually guaranteed the option would triumph one day.

“I believe profoundly that Quebec will be independent within three or four years,” Mr. Landry said in 2005. He said independence was mathematically likely, noting: “my generation is sovereignist, my children are sovereignist and my grandchildren as well.”But youth support for sovereignty has fallen to historic lows in the wake of the Orange Crush, in which Quebec voters sent 59 New Democratic Party MPs to Ottawa in May.