“We are experiencing a disillusionment, a disillusionment,” sums up Éric Lacroix, vice president and head of business strategy at the SOM company.
After abandoning and then bringing back the idea of another road between Quebec and Lévis, the Legault government is struggling to convince voters that it will actually make the project a success. Especially those in the Quebec region.
Even the promise of new “consultations on mobility in the state capital,” seen by many as a rebirth of the third tier, has far from revived hope among those who hope for it.
Regardless of what they think of the project, Quebecers no longer believe the third-tier government, according to a SOM-Le Soleil poll.
The poll, conducted November 1-3 among 1,032 respondents, shows that fewer than one in 10 Quebecers believe the third highway link will actually see the light of day under the Legault government.
Conversely, a large majority of respondents believe that the project will never be built with François Legault as Prime Minister. “The theme of the third term has had so many twists and turns, it has been so everything and the opposite that people no longer believe it, at least not literally,” analyzes Éric Lacroix.
In the Quebec region, where the Legault government delivered its first Waterloo during the Jean Talon by-election while the CAQ was sidelined, the disillusionment is even greater.
A paltry 6% of respondents from Greater Quebec are confident that the CAQ will build another road link between the two banks, while 84% don’t believe it will.
“The government and the prime minister have really lost credibility on this issue. »
— Éric Lacroix, Vice President and Head of Business Strategy at SOM
The ever popular project in Quebec
But because the people of Quebec no longer believe in the government’s ability to implement their highway project, they no longer want it.
According to the SOM-Le Soleil survey, a majority of residents in the metropolitan region still hope for a new connection between Quebec and Lévis.
“People still want it, but they just don’t believe the Legault government will get it done,” concludes Mr. Lacroix. This “disillusionment” is closely linked to the poor CAQ polls in Quebec, he analyzes.
“We’re really seeing a loss of confidence in Quebec […] The skepticism is great. »
— Éric Lacroix, Vice President and Head of Business Strategy at SOM
However, the SOM vice-president believes those in favor of a new connection could return home if Quebec walked the talk. “It will take action to get people to start believing in it again. »
It is worth noting that barely 1% of Quebec residents surveyed say that they do not know what to think about the third link or that they do not want to say whether they are for or against it. “Everyone has an opinion on this issue,” notes Mr. Lacroix.
Across Quebec, the third highway link is supported by 38% of respondents, while 40% of them say they are somewhat or very opposed. The remaining 22% are undecided.
This online survey was conducted November 1-3, 2023 among 1,032 French-speaking Quebec adults. The sample was drawn from the SOM Gold panel, which is composed of individuals randomly recruited by telephone (landline and cell phone). The data was weighted to best reflect the characteristics of the population by age, gender, household size, education, living space (owner/renter), native language and region. The maximum error rate for all respondents is 4.6%.A cartoon by André-Philippe Côté from Le Soleil about the disillusionment of Quebec region residents with the Legault government following the abandonment of the third highway connection project.