Political Staples

OK, it is offical. I am polyannaish. But can you blame me for running with a poll published in La Presse. You can see the apology here.

A Canadian polling firm apologized profusely on Thursday for issuing a survey earlier this week that exaggerated the decline in support for independence in the French-speaking province of Quebec. CROP said the revised figures showed 37 percent of Quebecers would vote yes in a referendum on breaking away from Canada, down from 40 percent before last week's election. The number who would vote no rose to 55 percent from 51 percent.

A CROP poll on January 31 poll said 34 percent of Quebecers would vote yes -- down from 43 percent before the election -- while 58 percent would vote no, up from 49 percent.

..."We sincerely regret that a rapid analysis of the poll's results led us to exaggerate the impact of the last federal election on the political scene in Quebec," wrote Gauthier.

"We apologize to La Presse, its readers, all the media outlets which picked up this poll and the general public."

But all in all, the numbers are still not good for separatists.