Genius
Posts: 953 
Location: Calgary, AB
Location: Calgary, AB
April 17th, 2006, 12:47 AM
40 per cent of Liberal voters satisfied with Tory government, poll indicates
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OTTAWA (CP) - The Conservatives got a passing grade from a healthy proportion of voters who didn't support them during the January election, a new poll suggests.
Forty per cent of Liberal voters, and a quarter of NDP and Bloc Quebecois voters, told Decima Research that they were generally satisfied with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government.
The Conservatives won 36 per cent of the popular vote during the last election.
Pollster Bruce Anderson cautions that the numbers don't mean that those Liberal, NDP and Bloc voters would automatically check off Conservative on their ballot if an election was held tomorrow.
But the party is doing something right.
"If the big test for a Stephen Harper-led Conservative government is whether or not it could appeal to centrist voters, the early results here suggest it's doing that in a relatively significant fashion," Anderson said.
Overall, 53 per cent of poll respondents were satisfied with the performance of the Conservative government, including 70 per cent of that party's supporters.
The poll, conducted March 31 to April 4 by Decima, was provided exclusively to The Canadian Press. There were 2,131 respondents, a sample considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Another poll by Strategic Counsel and released Saturday suggested 73 per cent of Canadians thought Harper was doing a good or average job.
The Decima survey was taken at a time when Harper was making front-page news. He had just wrapped up his first major international summit in Mexico with U.S. President George Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox.
Also, the spring session of Parliament was opening with a succinct, focused throne speech on April 4.
The polls suggest that more people thought the Conservatives were doing a good job of handling international affairs and Canada-U.S. relations than those that thought they were doing a poor job. Ditto for the economy.
But the reverse was true of areas such as child care, the environment and health care.
For example, 63 per cent of respondents said they thought the Conservatives were doing a poor job on the environment. That was before the news came out that the government was pulling funding for a number of climate-change initiatives.
Anderson said public opinion research suggests Canadians are becoming more focused on global environmental issues and that Harper should take note.
"It's important for them to position themselves as progressive advocates of envrionmental solutions domestically and internationally if they want to broaden their support base," he said.
40 per cent of Liberal voters satisfied with Tory government, poll indicates
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OTTAWA (CP) - The Conservatives got a passing grade from a healthy proportion of voters who didn't support them during the January election, a new poll suggests.
Forty per cent of Liberal voters, and a quarter of NDP and Bloc Quebecois voters, told Decima Research that they were generally satisfied with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government.
The Conservatives won 36 per cent of the popular vote during the last election.
Pollster Bruce Anderson cautions that the numbers don't mean that those Liberal, NDP and Bloc voters would automatically check off Conservative on their ballot if an election was held tomorrow.
But the party is doing something right.
"If the big test for a Stephen Harper-led Conservative government is whether or not it could appeal to centrist voters, the early results here suggest it's doing that in a relatively significant fashion," Anderson said.
Overall, 53 per cent of poll respondents were satisfied with the performance of the Conservative government, including 70 per cent of that party's supporters.
The poll, conducted March 31 to April 4 by Decima, was provided exclusively to The Canadian Press. There were 2,131 respondents, a sample considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Another poll by Strategic Counsel and released Saturday suggested 73 per cent of Canadians thought Harper was doing a good or average job.
The Decima survey was taken at a time when Harper was making front-page news. He had just wrapped up his first major international summit in Mexico with U.S. President George Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox.
Also, the spring session of Parliament was opening with a succinct, focused throne speech on April 4.
The polls suggest that more people thought the Conservatives were doing a good job of handling international affairs and Canada-U.S. relations than those that thought they were doing a poor job. Ditto for the economy.
But the reverse was true of areas such as child care, the environment and health care.
For example, 63 per cent of respondents said they thought the Conservatives were doing a poor job on the environment. That was before the news came out that the government was pulling funding for a number of climate-change initiatives.
Anderson said public opinion research suggests Canadians are becoming more focused on global environmental issues and that Harper should take note.
"It's important for them to position themselves as progressive advocates of envrionmental solutions domestically and internationally if they want to broaden their support base," he said.
Ponderous Intellect
Posts: 4,465
Videos: 1
Location: Surrey, British Columbia
Videos: 1
Location: Surrey, British Columbia
April 17th, 2006, 01:05 AM
My Position on the Current Government
In terms of the current Government of Canada, I don't support, nor oppose the government. I don't support the Conservative Party of Canada, and I think that the current Government has made some serious mistakes an errors (in particular, in relation to the stance taken with the press, the tax program to be implemented by this Government, and its insistence on terminated over a dozen environment programs).
Moreover, I don't support the efforts of this Government to create one Commissioner to oversee ethics in both the House of Commons, and the Senate. The Government knows that the Senate fought tooth and nail to get their own Senate Ethics Officer, and I think that the Government is attempting to use this measure to force a showdown in the Senate, in the hopes of getting election momentum.
My Position on the Current GovernmentIn terms of the current Government of Canada, I don't support, nor oppose the government. I don't support the Conservative Party of Canada, and I think that the current Government has made some serious mistakes an errors (in particular, in relation to the stance taken with the press, the tax program to be implemented by this Government, and its insistence on terminated over a dozen environment programs).
Moreover, I don't support the efforts of this Government to create one Commissioner to oversee ethics in both the House of Commons, and the Senate. The Government knows that the Senate fought tooth and nail to get their own Senate Ethics Officer, and I think that the Government is attempting to use this measure to force a showdown in the Senate, in the hopes of getting election momentum.
Steven Hawking's Tutor
Posts: 4,838
Location: Independent Palestine
Location: Independent Palestine
April 17th, 2006, 09:23 AM
You have to remember that this doesn't mean that the people supporting the government that hadn't voted for them because siomply put it is too early to decide if they should vote for the conservatives or not.
Also the conservatives haven't pushed past legislation yet and haven't pushed through a budget so this vote can change alot.
You have to remember that this doesn't mean that the people supporting the government that hadn't voted for them because siomply put it is too early to decide if they should vote for the conservatives or not.
Also the conservatives haven't pushed past legislation yet and haven't pushed through a budget so this vote can change alot.
Super Genius
Posts: 1,274
August 5th, 2006, 02:24 PM
And now, 5 months later, they must have done something WRONG - support for the Harper government is down, after Harper's and Peter MacKay's comments on Israeli military aggression on Lebanese civilians.
And on the softwood betrayal.
I can't find a poll telling of recent support, or not, for the minority Harper government. Maybe that means the media is still supporting him?
K
And now, 5 months later, they must have done something WRONG - support for the Harper government is down, after Harper's and Peter MacKay's comments on Israeli military aggression on Lebanese civilians.
And on the softwood betrayal.
I can't find a poll telling of recent support, or not, for the minority Harper government. Maybe that means the media is still supporting him?
K
House Member
Posts: 3,167
August 5th, 2006, 10:40 PM
Most people I know would strangle anyone who suggested a Liberal return was imminent. The party is inextricably linked with corruption, cronyism and a party-first-country-last mindset. Liberals support Liberals. They depend on a state that marshalls endless programs that feather their nests. Harper isn't spotless but he is a gigantic breath of fresh air in a country desperate for it.
Most people I know would strangle anyone who suggested a Liberal return was imminent. The party is inextricably linked with corruption, cronyism and a party-first-country-last mindset. Liberals support Liberals. They depend on a state that marshalls endless programs that feather their nests. Harper isn't spotless but he is a gigantic breath of fresh air in a country desperate for it.
