Election race tightens in wake of income-trust investigation: poll
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at 17:33 on December 31, 2005, EST.
OTTAWA (CP) - A new poll suggests the Liberals and the Conservatives both have an equal chance of forming a government in the wake of a RCMP investigation that has dented Liberal support.
The survey by Decima Research pegs Liberal support at 32 per cent of those who are likely to vote. That compared to 30 per cent who say they intend to back the Conservatives. Given the poll's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, the two parties are in a statistical dead heat.
New Democrats are backed by 18 per cent of the 1,020 respondents to a telephone survey between Dec. 29 and Dec. 30.
Fourteen per cent say they will vote for the Bloc Quebecois.
The biggest regional shift is being felt in Ontario, where the Liberals' once-commanding lead has shrunk to just four percentage points over the Conservatives at 40-36.
Decima surveyed voters across the country after the RCMP announced that it has launched a criminal investigation into allegations of a leak from the Finance Department ahead of an announcement on income trusts.
Opposition parties and some market watchers have complained that a leak led to insider trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The poll indicates that the Conservatives and the Liberals will essentially be starting a fresh fight for their lives when campaigning resumes on Monday.
The poll's results are considered accurate 19 times out of 20.
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