Aside from being Québec solidaire’s sole seatholder in the National Assembly, Amir Khadir is the odd man in another dimension of the political sphere.
The outspoken Khadir enjoys the highest popularity of any Quebec politician.
With a 45-per-cent approval rating, the MNA for central Montreal’s Mercier riding is the most popular politician in a Léger Marketing poll released today, conducted for The Gazette and Le Devoir.
Premier Jean Charest trails far behind, at 24 per cent. Almost two-thirds of respondents, 65 per cent, issued a thumbs-down on Charest, saying they had a poor opinion of him. In Khadir’s case, 18 per cent expressed disapproval.
Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois received 36-per-cent approval and 49-per-cent disapproval.
Gerard Deltel, who leads the Action démocratique du Québec, got a 35-per-cent thumbs-up, with 20 per cent delivering a thumbs-down.
While Charest proved by far the most unpopular of the 58 names evaluated by respondents, the No. 3 spot on the most-disliked list was taken by Tony Tomassi. The former Family minister was booted from Charest’s cabinet and the provincial Liberal caucus last May. He has maintained a low profile since – but garnered 43-per-cent disapproval.
François Legault, a former PQ bigwig rumoured in recent months to be trying to organize a new political party, received 42-per-cent approval. He wasn’t even on the poll’s radar last June.
Although Marois’s disapproval rating hovers close to 50 per cent, her party came out the winner in terms of voter intentions. The PQ leads in all regions of Quebec except Montreal, the survey suggests, and would pull in 36 per cent of ballots cast across Quebec in the event of a provincial election – vs. 30 per cent for the governing Liberals and 15 per cent for the Action démocratique du Québec.
In the Montreal area, the Liberals still hold a narrow lead, at 35 per cent vs. the PQ’s 32 per cent.
Among francophones, 43 per cent favoured the PQ – more than double the 20 per cent who said they’d vote Liberal. Another 17 per cent of French-language voters said they would choose the ADQ, with 11 per cent naming Québec solidaire.
Liberal support among nonfrancophone voters was a sweeping 66 per cent – with the Green Party coming in second, at 12 per cent. Tied for third were the PQ and the ADQ, at eight per cent each. Québec solidaire brought up the rear, at two per cent.
If a federal election were held, 34 per cent of respondents said they would vote for the Bloc Québécois. The federal Liberals and the New Democratic Party were tied at 21 per cent, with the Conservatives just behind at 19 per cent.
The online survey was conducted Dec. 6-9 using a sample size of 1,000 Quebecers weighted by age, gender, language, level of education and whether their household includes children under 18. Results are given after undecided voters are distributed. The poll’s margin of error falls within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
JAN RAVENSBERGEN