(Quebec) The CAQ MPs took the hit on Wednesday after the publication of a poll relegating their party to second place in the greater capital region. He keeps the lead in all of Quebec, but loses four points. Some attribute the slide to the setback on the third freeway link, others believe the government should heed this warning from the electorate without “freaking out”.

According to Léger’s probe broadcast in the Quebecor media, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) plummeted by 14 points in the greater Quebec City region compared to February: it went from 40% to 26%. The Parti Québécois (PQ) takes the throne, gaining eight points to 28%. The Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) is third and goes from 17% to 23%. Across Quebec, the CAQ remains in first place at 36%, down four points. The PQ climbed by the same number of points and obtained a result of 22%, ahead of Québec solidaire (16%), the Liberal Party of Quebec (14%) and the PCQ (10%).

The Minister responsible for the Capitale-Nationale, Jonatan Julien, agrees that the second weeks have been “full of challenges” and that voters in the region are disappointed with the abandonment of the third highway link.

“We said openly that we understood that there are disappointed people, it’s normal,” was limited to saying the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault (Louis-Hébert). His colleague Martine Biron (Chutes-de-la-Chaudière) was content with a cliché: “A poll is like a swallow, it doesn’t make spring”.

For Luc Provençal (Beauce-Nord), the CAQ’s slide was “predictable”. “We’ll live with it, there’s no problem, in the sense that we’ll see over time if it’s going to last.”

Mario Asselin (Vanier-Les Rivières) does not believe that the decision regarding the third link will hurt his party. ” Not really. That’s life […]. I’m not surprised because five years have passed, it’s normal for there to be a little movement. It’s quite normal. »

Member of Parliament for Montmorency, Jean-François Simard, reminded his government: “there is one thing that is fundamental in politics: it is never to believe that things are acquired”.

For the elected official in Nicolet-Bécancour, Donald Martel, “You have to be humble in all of this. I think that’s a great realization. It reminds us to work even harder. We had a tough week last week, that’s for sure. »

The member for Abitibi-Est and former minister Pierre Dufour invites his colleagues to put things into perspective. “A poll three and a half years before an election, I think you have to take it easy. Well, it’s a first setback, there are issues, in Quebec with the third link. It sure has an impact. You have to take this in fair measure: three and a half years before the next election, you have to review everything, but you still don’t have to panic about it. »