MONTREAL (AFP) — The separatist Bloc Quebecois reclaimed the lead in the francophone province of Quebec ahead Canada's elections, as support for the ruling Conservatives plunged eight percentage points, said a poll Monday.
Support for the Bloc, which claims to defend Quebec's interests within the Canadian federation, rose to 33 percent versus 26 percent for the Conservatives, according to the Leger Marketing survey.
In mid-September, the Bloc had been trailing Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives, with 32 percent versus 34 percent support, respectively.
The sudden collapse of the Conservatives' underpinning in the province was due primarily to its recent arts and culture funding cuts -- loudly denounced by filmmakers -- and stiffer jail sentences proposed for teen-aged criminals.
"Quebecers are asking themselves if they're really ready for a majority Conservative government," opined Christian Bourque of Leger Marketing. "Last week's announcements (by Harper) left a very bad taste."
The minority Conservatives held 11 seats in Quebec before the election writ was dropped, versus 48 for the Bloc, which does run candidates in any other province.
To win a majority government, a party has historically had to make inroads in Quebec, which has 75 of 308 seats in parliament up for grabs.
The survey of 3,624 Quebecers for the French-language Journal de Montreal is considered accurate within 1.9 percent margin of error.
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