AMD
07-17-2005, 01:48 AM
Saturday, July 16, 2005 Page A4
OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
Stephen Harper moved yesterday to revive his political fortunes in the electoral heartland of Ontario even as a new poll shows that 59 per cent of Canadians want him replaced, including more than one-third of his own supporters.
The poll also found that the difficulties of the just-completed sitting of the House of Commons have left Canadians with an increasingly negative image of Mr. Harper, with 41 per cent saying their opinion of the Conservative Leader has worsened. But the survey, conducted for The Globe and Mail/CTV by the Strategic Counsel, also finds that popularity difficulties plague Prime Minister Paul Martin, with 52 per cent of voters saying he should be replaced.
"Clearly, Harper's numbers have moved starkly to the negative," said Tim Woolstencroft, managing partner with the company. "And Martin's looking like his negatives are starting to soften, although it's important to note that they're no different than Harper's."
The poll, which found that the Liberals continue to maintain a nine-point lead on the Tories in voting intention, came yesterday as Mr. Harper glad-handed in cottage country north of Toronto. The Conservative Leader is touring Canada this summer to build party support in preparation for an election next winter.
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Although Mr. Harper's leadership has not been widely questioned internally, the poll found unease among Canadians generally. It also found that 37 per cent of those who consider themselves Conservative voters believe there should be a change at the top.
In a related question, 41 per cent of those surveyed said their opinion of Mr. Harper has worsened in the past year, compared with 21 per cent who said the same thing in April, just before the springtime political crisis that saw the Tories fail to bring down the government.
For Mr. Martin's part, only 20 per cent of Liberals said their leader should be replaced, compared with 52 per cent across the political spectrum. The Prime Minister's image also improved somewhat, with 42 per cent saying their impression of the PM got worse over the past year, compared with 49 per cent in April.
The other major leaders -- the NDP's Jack Layton and the Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Québécois' -- fared significantly better, with only 15 per cent saying Mr. Layton's performance had dropped and 17 per cent saying the same of Mr. Duceppe.
The company surveyed 1,000 Canadians between July 5 and July 10 and results are accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 95 per cent of the time.
Mr. Woolstencroft suggested yesterday that, rather than work on his image, Mr. Harper might take some of the focus off of himself by unveiling the party's platform and by showing off members of what's widely believed to be a strong Conservative team. He did some of that yesterday, touring with Tony Clement, a former Ontario cabinet minister and one of the party's candidates in the next election.
"He's got to show that he's got a real strong team of people around him. I think one of the problems people think is the team is just Harper," Mr. Woolstencroft said.
Leadership popularity
Question: Fore each of the following leaders, I'd like to know if your opinion of them has improved, stayed the same or gotten worse in the last year?
Improved Stayed the same Gotten worse
Jack Layton 32 53 15
Gilles Deceppe 17 66 17
Paul Martin 15 43 42
Stephen Harper 14 45 41
Question: If you had your way, would you like to see the Liberals, the Conservatives, the NDP and in Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois keep or replace their leaders?
Keep
Liberals 48%
Conservatives 41%
NDP 78%
Bloc Quebecois 76%
Replace
Liberals 52%
Conservatives 59%
NDP 22%
Bloc Quebecois 24%
SOURCE: THE STRATEGIC COUNSEL
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050716/POLL16/TPNational/Canada
Anyone surprised? :rolleyes:
OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
Stephen Harper moved yesterday to revive his political fortunes in the electoral heartland of Ontario even as a new poll shows that 59 per cent of Canadians want him replaced, including more than one-third of his own supporters.
The poll also found that the difficulties of the just-completed sitting of the House of Commons have left Canadians with an increasingly negative image of Mr. Harper, with 41 per cent saying their opinion of the Conservative Leader has worsened. But the survey, conducted for The Globe and Mail/CTV by the Strategic Counsel, also finds that popularity difficulties plague Prime Minister Paul Martin, with 52 per cent of voters saying he should be replaced.
"Clearly, Harper's numbers have moved starkly to the negative," said Tim Woolstencroft, managing partner with the company. "And Martin's looking like his negatives are starting to soften, although it's important to note that they're no different than Harper's."
The poll, which found that the Liberals continue to maintain a nine-point lead on the Tories in voting intention, came yesterday as Mr. Harper glad-handed in cottage country north of Toronto. The Conservative Leader is touring Canada this summer to build party support in preparation for an election next winter.
Advertisements
Although Mr. Harper's leadership has not been widely questioned internally, the poll found unease among Canadians generally. It also found that 37 per cent of those who consider themselves Conservative voters believe there should be a change at the top.
In a related question, 41 per cent of those surveyed said their opinion of Mr. Harper has worsened in the past year, compared with 21 per cent who said the same thing in April, just before the springtime political crisis that saw the Tories fail to bring down the government.
For Mr. Martin's part, only 20 per cent of Liberals said their leader should be replaced, compared with 52 per cent across the political spectrum. The Prime Minister's image also improved somewhat, with 42 per cent saying their impression of the PM got worse over the past year, compared with 49 per cent in April.
The other major leaders -- the NDP's Jack Layton and the Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Québécois' -- fared significantly better, with only 15 per cent saying Mr. Layton's performance had dropped and 17 per cent saying the same of Mr. Duceppe.
The company surveyed 1,000 Canadians between July 5 and July 10 and results are accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 95 per cent of the time.
Mr. Woolstencroft suggested yesterday that, rather than work on his image, Mr. Harper might take some of the focus off of himself by unveiling the party's platform and by showing off members of what's widely believed to be a strong Conservative team. He did some of that yesterday, touring with Tony Clement, a former Ontario cabinet minister and one of the party's candidates in the next election.
"He's got to show that he's got a real strong team of people around him. I think one of the problems people think is the team is just Harper," Mr. Woolstencroft said.
Leadership popularity
Question: Fore each of the following leaders, I'd like to know if your opinion of them has improved, stayed the same or gotten worse in the last year?
Improved Stayed the same Gotten worse
Jack Layton 32 53 15
Gilles Deceppe 17 66 17
Paul Martin 15 43 42
Stephen Harper 14 45 41
Question: If you had your way, would you like to see the Liberals, the Conservatives, the NDP and in Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois keep or replace their leaders?
Keep
Liberals 48%
Conservatives 41%
NDP 78%
Bloc Quebecois 76%
Replace
Liberals 52%
Conservatives 59%
NDP 22%
Bloc Quebecois 24%
SOURCE: THE STRATEGIC COUNSEL
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050716/POLL16/TPNational/Canada
Anyone surprised? :rolleyes: