06.22.2010 02:16 PM

Don’t worry, be happy, etc.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey indicates the Tories emerged from the session with 34 per cent support — a solid seven-point lead over the Liberals.

The NDP were at 17 per cent nationally and the Greens at 10 per cent…

As the session sputtered to a close last week, the Tories were leading in every region of the country, except Quebec where the Bloc Quebecois strengthened its grip on the province, the poll indicates.

And they had opened up a double-digit lead over the Liberals among male voters (38 to 25 per cent) and even pulled slightly ahead among women (29 to 28 per cent)…

The poll suggests the Conservatives enjoy a comfortable lead throughout most of English Canada:

— In Ontario, the Conservatives were at 40 per cent, the Liberals at 32, NDP at 15 and the Greens at 11.

— In the key 905 area code ridings around Toronto, Tories were at 43 per cent to the Liberals’ 32, the NDP’s eight and the Greens’ 15.

— In British Columbia, the Tories were at 33 per cent, virtually tied with the NDP at 32, while the Liberals lagged with 19 per cent and the Greens with 14.

— In Manitoba-Saskatchewan, the Tories were at 39 per cent, the Liberals at 23, the NDP at 23 and the Greens at nine.

— In Alberta, the Tories were at 55 per cent, the Liberals at 22, the NDP and Greens at 10 each.

— In Atlantic Canada, the Tories were at 38 per cent, the Liberals at 36, the NDP at 17 and the Greens at seven.

38 Comments

  1. MississaugaPeter says:

    Harris-Decima is always on the high end for the Conservatives (compared to all the other polls).

    They don’t tell you that the Conservatives have actually fallen since the last Harris-Decima poll which had the Conservatives at 36%, Liberals 27%, NDP 16%, Greens 11, BQ 8%.

    http://www.harrisdecima.ca/news/releases/201005/760-conservative-lead-grows

    So the Conservatives down 2%, Liberals even, NDP up 1%, Greens down 1%.

    I still predict sub-30% Conservative polls next week. In particular, those that provide the undecided number.

    Note: It’s bizarre, when we were growing up all polls revealed the undecided number. Not any more.

    • Warren says:

      But why isn’t the Fake Lake Clambake killing them? It should, but it isn’t. Go figure.

      • James Bow says:

        I think the big problem is the opposition hasn’t been able to capitalize on the issue by offering a positive alternative. I’ve already offered my suggestion, but I’ve still heard little in the way of policy about what a Liberal government would do better.

        It’s time for a new Red Book.

        • Cath says:

          I just think Canadians are sick to death of feeling the mad or sad about themselves and their country. If this event does even half of what the Olympics did for our country then we’ll “own the podium” in more ways than just winter sports. It’s summer, next week’s Canada Day week….what’s not to like?? At the end of the day we’re not doing half badly. The timing of this plays to Harper’s advantage as well.

          I have a question for you Warren. If Toronto is so skittish about this event going down how in the world would the city have managed and prepared for a summer Olympics?

      • Ronald O'Dowd says:

        Warren,

        You’ve been around long enough (oops) to know what moves party numbers…in a word, it’s called B-A-C-K-B-O-N-E.

        Can anyone please remind me what the election date is? The question kind of answers itself, doesn’t it…

  2. Sandra says:

    One polling company. The clambake hasn’t happened and/or is over yet.

    You wouldn’t believe the anger on elevators in the business area of Toronto and on the trains.

    Is this your daily push?

    • David says:

      Sandra
      I understand that there is anger in downtown TO over this but really how many conservatives MP come from Toronto? The fact is Toronto does not elect Conservatives so why should they care what Toronto thinks?

  3. Dan F. says:

    The real question is this: When is the last time a government in Canada consistently had the support of less than one in three Canadians, and how long did they stay in government?

  4. Andrew says:

    The G20 is only on the minds of those who live and work downtown. I live in the suburbs of Toronto and I personally don’t care one way or the other about the G20. Friday will be like any other day and my commute to work no different.

    Fake Lake and the cost of the putting on the G20 are a non-issue with working families. Its the economy stupid (to borrow a phrase).

    For any change in the polling numbers to happen, the opposition needs to offer something concrete for working families to latch onto that is not social engineering or social justice.

    Offer me better school funding, a better way to control my financial future and then I will listen.

    Every government mismanages tax payers dollars, whether the hands in the till are blue or red.

    • James Smith says:

      Andrew,
      I’m curious, about your comment (“it’s the economy stupid”) and working families – I see a disconnect. Do you think folks think “well Iggy would spend as much on the G20, so whatever!” ? (I note your last comment).
      It seems it’s not the vision thing for you, do you have a specific set of things you want a federal leader to do? I mean school funding is by and large a provincial matter. I’m just spit balling here, & metaphysics aside, control of your financial future sounds really, really social engineering-ish. I get a sense that these poll numbers don’t paint a real happy portrait for any federal leader right now, so what would you like to see a leader do?
      The last Liberal Leader had a specific economic plan, he didn’t communicate it well at all, but it was nothing if not specific & people HATED it, so what would you like to see?

  5. JH says:

    Sandra I don’t think the rest of the country is too worried about Toronto – at least not according to this poll. More interesting though is how it reinforces what WK has been advocating. Finally what does it say about the Main Stream Media? How wrong have they been with the storyline they’ve been pushing. Course if you listen to Carol Taylor from BC when she’s on the ‘tube’ you’d have gotten a clue. She’s the only regular pundit not from a big city in Ontario or Quebec and calls a spade a spade. She has not been as enamoured as most of them have been with the scandal strategy. Look at Spector’s front pages of the dailies for another clue. Rarely do you see them reflecting what you are getting from the CBC/CTV/Star/Globe/Citizen etc. crowd. I think folks are being seriously mislead by the MSM as perhaps are some of the politicians. JMHOP

    • Jan says:

      I have never heard Carol Taylor say anything critical of the Harper government. She appears to be keeping an option open.

  6. Sandra says:

    Sorry, but Carol Taylor is a Harper drooly. Seems she feels oh so important because he appointed her to that special economic panel.

    Even if Toronto doesn’t matter to some, their money and how it’s spent should be.

  7. Catherine says:

    Still does not change the need for the LPC to heed the advice of Ian Davey: make the gov’t the issue; be patient; connect the leader; get prepared, and hang together.

    The ‘get prepared’ effort is keeping our riding pretty busy.

    Have to count on the ‘thinkers’ like WK and others to show us the direction.

  8. Joseph says:

    Iggymania sweeps the nation.

  9. Sean says:

    17+27=44

    • James Smith says:

      The two caveats:
      1 – a Mr Flaherty represents a riding once held by a Mr Broadbent – let this represent a 15% discount
      2 – The Green party has become the great parking lot of Canadian politics – let this represent a discount of 10%
      3 – Total discount 25%
      Therefore may I suggest:

      (17+27)x 0.75=33

      Heck, I’m sure you’re all cool with Sid Ryan Minister of Labour

      😉

    • H Holmes says:

      32+8=40 which is still behind 43 in 905.

      At least a merger will get us 75% in Toronto and Vancouver.

      Too bad the suburban areas where the seats are will still be conservative.

    • FiscalTim says:

      You underestimate the percentage of people that would find a combined Liberal/NDP party too left and would instead vote Tory, which surprisingly would be closer to the center.

      The problem the Liberals have is that our economy is in a great position relative to other advanced economies. People want to keep their jobs – they don’t want lefty academics or tree huggers that try to take them away.

      • Gayle says:

        You cannot win an election in Canada unless you are in the centre. The LPC would pull the NDP to the right – which is why the NDP would probably never merge.

        • Rod Smelser says:

          Basically that’s right. And it was reported in the press stories that Liberals in these background talks were making their demands crystal clear. A full throated renouncing of any form of “socialism” and a complete and total break with labour.

  10. H Holmes says:

    There has been a small incremental change.

    The fact it isn’t faster is because most people don’t pay attention to the news.

    We also had a whole collation issue come up during the height of the controversy.
    Which had a sway on voter attention away from the main message of Conservative waste..
    Keep talking about Conservative waste, will help the party. However, we need a long term plan on how we will actually benefit tax payers and not take their money for granted.
    We also haven’t done enough advertising.

    Announcing that we are against a deep water port in Northern BC only moves those votes towards the conservatives.
    Where was the compromise, like maybe expanding existing facilities or investing in strategies that would reduce the risk.

    Oh well. Lets have all three parties line up on the same side of issues all of the time, and when rural areas vote against the views of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, complain that they don’t understand us and it was poor messaging that causes them to vote conservative. We make no effort to accommodate or understand them.
    Yet most people seem to really care about their jobs and the lively hood of their community.
    We have forgotten this as we become a much more urban party, based on many special interests.

  11. CQ says:

    Warren asks “why isn?t the Fake Lake Clambake killing them?” – 2:25 pm

    As someone living in T.O., I’m already tired of 2010’s continuous left-wing dominating public sector side issues. Today’s front page photo as seen on the newsstand was Snail Mail. This is after the anti-Israel universities (plus a U.S. pundit’s speech denied) and Pride Parade issues, Bob Rae’s Dukakis-like springtime GI Joe photo-op, the TTC personnel gaffes including a recent copper wire theft arrest, the CBC’s bias protesting while rehashing ’08 anti-Harper election comedy episodes non-stop and a pot meets kettle lengthy news feature criticism over a lack of openly gay NHL players last month, plus the provincial & municipal blended HST bashing from a political side that was always demanding a hard percentage raise in the GST’s rate. Or then there’s the monopolistically licenced private sector CTV putting on a super terrific video award show that never even listed either Metric or Dead End Countdown for a single award category.
    So some other – mean nasty neo-con Harris Bush puppet blah blah blah – (yet still) public sector people are getting this week’s clambake cash. Makes no difference to my life.
    It is just all part of the same & tired background chatter that has finally lost mass audience credence.

    • Paul R. Martin says:

      The economy is among the strongest in the G8. Inflation is tame. The general public is just not worked up by the so called issues that have been raised by the Liberals. Afghan detainees, Jaffer and the G20 disruptions are a minor concern with most voters.

      I have been watching the interviews with the “protesters” and I wonder what world these people live in. There is no valid coherent reason for any of the protests. They are making it easy for the government to justify the security expenses.

  12. james smith says:

    Not that it makes a big difference but didn’t Ecos this week have the present PM @ 30% ?
    Also Angus Reid sez 78% think the costs of the G8/20 are unjustified, so is that not hurting the present PM’s image as a good fiscal manager?
    Nobody is flocking to Iggy, but the present PM isn’t feeling the love either.
    NONE OF THE ABOVE is what folks are feeling right now & that is at the root of the political malaise right now.

  13. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    James Smith,

    Perhaps I should get a name change in. What do you think, NONE OF THE ABOVE O’DOWD. Kind of New Age, isn’t it.

    Better act fast. Wouldn’t want that certain someone to beat me to the punch — they keep saying he’ll do whatever it takes to get that majority!

    • James Smith says:

      Ronald,

      Given my christian & surname, your suggestion would be an improvement.
      Lesee James None of the Above Smith, I like the ring!
      😉

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