Quebec Election Year Starts with Brutal Verdict on François Legault |
With the holidays now behind us, Premier François Legault has decided to take his walk in the snow. Up until this morning, all signs pointed to him running his fifth election campaign as leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec this fall—and his third as premier.
However, the embattled premier resigned at a news conference earlier today. And it’s no surprise why. A new Quebec survey from Pallas Data of decided and leaning voters, partly commissioned by The Walrus, suggested the holiday break did nothing to improve Quebecers’ mood toward their government in Quebec City, nor toward Legault himself.
Let’s first look at the province-wide figures.
The Parti Québécois remains in the lead in voting intentions with 34 percent. This is a two-point drop from the previous Pallas poll, published in November—a variation well within the poll’s margin of error—and a result very close to the PQ’s cruising altitude since 2024.
Among the francophone majority, the Parti Québécois stands far and away on top, well ahead of a divided opposition: the PQ has 41 percent support, a twenty-six-point advantage over Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party of Quebec. Obviously, if such figures were transferred to the voting booths next October, the PQ would be heavy favourites to form a majority government at the National Assembly.
The Quebec Liberal Party, once again embroiled in a leadership race, ranks second province-wide with 24 percent support. It is important to note that the previous Pallas poll was conducted at the........