The separatist Parti Qu脙漏b脙漏cois looks set to return to power in Quebec in next week's provincial election but is unlikely to win enough support to push through a referendum on independence, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
The CROP survey for Montreal's La Presse newspaper put the opposition PQ at 33 per cent public support, down one percentage point from a poll done by the same firm 12 days earlier. Quebec holds a provincial election next Tuesday.
The newly created Coalition for the Future of Quebec (CAQ), which is led by former PQ cabinet minister Fran莽is Legault, was at 28 per cent, up three points, while the ruling Liberals dropped one point to 27 per cent.
CROP said the poll showed the PQ was likely to win a minority of seats in the provincial legislature, forcing it to look to other parties for support in governing.
Both the Liberals and the CAQ say they do not support another referendum on independence.
Previous PQ governments held province-wide votes on breaking away from Canada, losing by a wide margin in 1980 but by only about one percentage point in 1995.
Party leader Pauline Marois vows to hold another referendum if she wins power but declines to say when it would occur.
The poll showed that Liberal Premier Jean Charest's government is set to lose after nine years in power.
The CROP telephone poll of 1,002 adults was conducted between Aug. 24 and 26 and is considered to be accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
