We provided an English summary on this site of a report in La Presse about the latest CROP poll in Quebec.
The La Presse journalist was mostly interested in the bad news in that poll for Michael Ignatieff. But there's more to the results.
To begin, CROP (Quebec's most credible pollster) reports that only 5 per cent of Quebecers are "very satisfied" with the job the Harper government is doing, a number well below the Elvis Threshold -- the number of respondents who would also report that Elvis is still alive. Another 32 per cent are somewhat satisfied.
Fifty-nine per cent of Quebeckers are disssatisfied with the Conservative government's performance (32 per cent somewhat, 28 per cen very unsatisfied).
So who would be the best prime minister of Canada, according to Quebeckers? Jack Layton, leader of the New Democrats:
Best prime minister: Jack Layton 28 per cent; Stephen Harper 24; Michael Ignatieff 20.
Voting intensions (all of Quebec): Bloc 34 per cent; Liberals 24; Conservatives 21; NDP 17; Greens 4.
Voting intensions (Francophone): Bloc 40 per cent; Conservatives 20; Liberals 19; NDP 18.
It will be observed that the NDP is within one point of the Liberals among the critical Francophone vote, and only two points away from the Conservatives (all within the margin of error).
The bottom line: Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government are not loved in Quebec. Or at least, Elvis is loved more. Michael Ignatieff trails all of his national opponents. At 34 per cent, the Bloc is underperforming. And the party with the most growth potential (looking at the leader and party numbers) is the Quebec slate headed by deputy NDP leader Tom Mulcair. Jack Layton has been working Quebec relentlessly since his first days as leader. It's paying off. He is also lucky in his federalist opponents, it would seem.
Television advertising
On another front, people involved in thinking about federal election campaigns were given something more to think about yesterday by Jack Bensimon, the witty and well-respected head of advertising agency Bensimon Byrne, which has been ingenious since 1993, their outdoor sign will tell you.
Bensimon helped kick off Advertising Week by presenting a sobering report that argued at only one in five viewers pays close attention to television advertising.
TV ads are typically the biggest expense in a federal election campaign. Bensimon's report is a reminder to political parties -- like all advertisers -- that getting a message through to voters during a campaign is a multi-channel challenge these days.
(File photo: Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)
