Dumont's popularity sags to third place

by INGRID PERITZ — April 25, 2008

MONTREAL -- Mario Dumont, the boy wonder of Quebec politics tapped a short while ago as premier-in-waiting, has fallen far back to third place in voter popularity in the province, a new poll indicates.

Results show his Action Démocratique du Québec is in freefall, garnering the support of only 18 per cent of voters, a drop of nearly 10 points since the fall.

Once known for his knack for seizing on Quebeckers' concerns, Mr. Dumont has appeared amateurish and unable to present his party as a legitimate alternative to the governing Liberals, pollsters say.

"People sense that the ADQ is not yet a full-fledged, seasoned political party," said pollster Christian Bourque of Léger Marketing, whose survey was published yesterday in the daily Le Devoir. The ADQ formed the Official Opposition after its second-place showing in last year's election.

"A lot of people said Mario Dumont is a crafty, intelligent politician, but sometimes there is a bit of demagoguery. And I don't know if people find that credible when you're leader of the opposition."

The party is also facing criticism over controversial campaign posters being used in two Montreal by-elections. The posters draw attention to the decline of French in Montreal, while announcing that the "ADQ solution" would be to freeze immigration and boost Quebec's birth rate.

Cameroon-born Maka Kotto, a Bloc Québécois MP who is running for the Parti Québécois in one of the ridings, said the messages echoed those of Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front in France.

Mr. Dumont's decline in the polls has chiefly benefited Premier Jean Charest's Liberals, whose fortunes have risen as the ADQ Leader's have declined. Mr. Charest, who wallowed in third place in voter support last fall, is now rated as the most popular leader in the province.

His party gets the backing of 37 per cent of voters in the Léger poll; the PQ is in second place with 33 per cent.

Pollster Mr. Bourque said the Premier's decision to abandon making sweeping reforms that characterized his first term in office in favour of day-to-day management has played in Mr. Charest's favour.

"The Liberals are just micromanagers at the moment and people like that. Quebeckers love the status quo," he said. The PQ is not gaining as much from the ADQ collapse because of its sovereignty platform, he added. "Sovereignty is not the hot topic right now, and that's why the PQ isn't benefiting."

Despite the shifting political landscape, the poll results would still point to a Liberal minority government. The party trails the PQ by seven points in support among francophone voters, who decide the outcome of elections in Quebec.

Still, observers say they are struck by the precipitous plunge in support for Mr. Dumont. Réjean Pelletier, a political scientist at Laval University in Quebec City, said Mr. Dumont has demonstrated he is good at targeting problems but poor at finding solutions.

"He's someone who can light a fire but can't put it out," Prof. Pelletier said. "He has a kind of political instinct but he lacks a nose for what Quebeckers want."

Mr. Charest said the results show that Quebeckers are satisfied with his minority government. "Co-habitation is what Quebeckers want, and it's a responsibility to make it work," he told reporters in Quebec City.

Source:The Globe and Mail