When the Quebec election campaign kicked off, Pauline Marois and her Parti Qu茅b茅cois appeared to be headed for a majority government, raising angst about another separation referendum in Quebec. Then Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl P茅ladeau jumped in as a PQ candidate and boldly announced his determination to see Quebec become a sovereign nation.
That raised the angst and lowered the PQ鈥檚 ratings. Now the polling gives Quebec Liberals a 10 per cent lead as the province heads toward its election on April 7.
The political pundits who don鈥檛 want to see the PQ in power are chortling, but perhaps prematurely.
Last May, the polls were predicting that Christy Clark and the sa国际传媒 Liberals were headed for defeat. Political columnists ate huge helpings of humble pie when the Liberals won a solid majority.
The year before in Alberta, the polls were predicting a dismal future for Alison Redford and the Progressive Conservatives. Yet Redford defied the polls and emerged from the election in full control.
(A bit too much in control, her party and caucus decided last week as they booted her out. They might have shrugged off the poor showing in the polls preceding the election, but weren鈥檛 about to risk ignoring the most recent polls that showed her approval rating in the basement.)
Polls don鈥檛 predict the future; they tell us only what a few people say they are thinking at a given moment. Let鈥檚 wait for election night before we celebrate the defeat of Quebec鈥檚 separatists.
