A new Nanos poll for Noovo and Crave released ahead of the second Quebec provincial election leaders’ debate shows the Parti Québécois (PQ) with a marginal lead in the race, while the contest for premier remains highly competitive. The PQ currently has the support of 27.9 per cent of respondents, followed closely by the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) at 23.7 per cent and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) at 21.6 per cent. The Quebec Conservative Party and Québec solidaire follow with 16.4 per cent and 8.7 per cent, in that order. “On improving the finances of Quebecers, it is a horse race,” noted the survey’s chief data scientist, Nik Nanos. In terms of who is the preferred choice to become premier, CAQ Leader Christine Fréchette and PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon are neck-and-neck, with 26.7 per cent and 25.4 per cent support, respectively. The poll surveyed 537 Quebecers aged 18 and older from Sept. 12 to 14 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. According to the poll, the CAQ retains an advantage regarding economic and trade matters. The survey found that 30.3 per cent of Quebecers trust Fréchette to face threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, compared with 17.8 per cent for St-Pierre Plamondon. She also leads St-Pierre Plamondon when it comes to protecting Quebec’s financial interests during the trade war with the United States, at 31.9 per cent compared with 19.1 per cent. “Le grand debat des chefs” will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday on Noovo Info and streamed on Crave. The poll was conducted using a random-digit-dialing method with live agents. Half of the participants were interviewed by phone and the other half online, with the results weighted by region, age, and gender according to Canadian census data.
