August 26, 2018 @ 5:00 AM | Filed under: Uncategorized

CAQ Stretches a Big Lead Going Into The First Weekend

Healthcare and change the top ballot issues right now

Toronto, Aug 24th, 2018 – In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 965 Québec voters, amongst those decided and leaning, the CAQ is the choice of 4 in 10 (42%). The PLQ (22%) and PQ (21%) are tied with about one-fifth support.

QS is the choice of about one sixth (13%), while few (2%) say they are supporting other parties

Coulliard disapproval up 9 points since last summer

Premier Phillipe Coulliard’s current approval (27%) is down 5 points since last July (July 10, 2017: 32%) and his disapproval (64%) is up 9 points (July 10, 2017: 55%). Only 1 in 10 (9%) say they do not know about the premier.

Premier Coulliard's net favourable score (approve - disapprove) is -37, 14 points lower than last July (July 10, 2017: -23)

Jean-François Lisée’s approval numbers haven’t changed over the past year, with approval from a third (35%) similar to last year (July 10, 2017: 32%) and disapproval from 4 in 10 (40%), similar to last year (July 10, 2017: 42%)

One quarter currently say they do not know about Lisée (25%). His net favourable score is -5, an improvement over last year (July 10, 2017: -10).

François Legault’s approval is similar to where it was last summer with almost half (48%) saying they approve, similar to last year (July 10, 2017: 45%) and sees disapproval from a third (33%), almost exactly where it was last summer (July 10, 2017: 32%).

His net favourable score is +15, slightly up from last year (July 10, 2017: +13).

One-fifth say they do not know (19%) about Legault.

Plurality says Legault would make the best Premier



A third (34%) say that Legault would make the best Premier, well in front of Coulliard (18%) and Lisée (17%). One-fifth (22%) don’t like any of the choices, and about 1 in 10 (8%) say they do not know.

Majority of voters think CAQ will win

More than half (54%) think that the CAQ will win, while only about one-fifth (22%) say they think the PLQ will win.

Few believe either the PQ (9%) or QS (4%) will win.

About 1 in 10 (12%) say they do not know who will win.

Healthcare and change the top ballot issues for voters right now

A quarter (25%) of voters say that Healthcare is the issue most likely to determine their vote, while a fifth (19%) say it’s time for a change.

Education (15%) and the Economy (13%) are the issue for about one-sixth of voters respectively.

About 1 in 10 (9%) said the issue is ethics in government. Few said the most determining factor will be their local candidate (5%) or party loyalty (4%).

1 in 10 (11%) said another issue would determine their vote.

“The CAQ should be pleased with their position at the outset of this campaign,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. "But not only is the CAQ leading in vote support, their leader is by far the most popular, which could keep them riding high until election day. While anything can change on the campaign trail, things are looking very positive for Legault and his CAQ right now.”

Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.