Policy is what Canadians want to hear from their leaders Tuesday night in the crucial English-language debate, according to a new Nanos poll that shows Stephen Harper still holding a considerable lead over his opponents.
On the eve of the first of two televised debates, the latest poll for CTV and The Globe and Mail shows the Conservatives at 39.7 per cent compared to 31.2 per cent for the Ignatieff Liberals and 16.8 per cent for Jack Layton and his NDP; the Bloc is at 7.8 per cent and the Greens – Leader Elizabeth May will not be part of the debate – are at 4 per cent.
While little appears to have changed in the so-called horse-race numbers since the election began, the Tory lead is deceptive. The Nanos numbers show that although Mr. Harper has a “comfortable” lead in the Prairie provinces, his support there has declined: On April 10, he polled 61.6 per cent; the next day, 51.2 per cent.
The race is tightening up in other regions as well. The Conservatives and Liberals are statistically tied in Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario.
» In battleground Ontario, the Tories are polling at 40.9 per cent compared to 38.9 per cent for the Liberals; the margin of error is 5.7 percentage points.
» In Quebec, the Tories have 23.2-per-cent support compared to 20.8 per cent for the Liberals, with a margin of error of 6.5 percentage points. The NDP is not far behind either, with 18.1 per cent. The Bloc, however, is well ahead at 33.1 per cent.
» In the Atlantic region, the Tories are at 42.6 per cent and the Liberals are polling at 40.3 per cent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 10.2 percentage points.
Support for the NDP, meanwhile, is back to its traditional levels after hitting a campaign low last Friday – 14.9 per cent. Jack Layton and his team released their platform Sunday – perhaps this contributed to the NDP bump.
The Nanos poll looked, too, at what is driving the numbers. It found that party policy is the most important factor in determining how respondents cast their ballots, something leaders should keep in mind as they prepare for the two-hour debate. Canadians, according to the poll, will be looking at how the leader performs as well as how they describe, characterize and explain their party platform.
More than half of respondents, 52.6 per cent, said that “party policies” were the “most important” in terms of influencing their vote. This compares to 22.5 per cent for the party leader, 13.4 per cent for the local candidate and 8 per cent of those who traditionally vote for one party.
The Nanos poll of 990 Canadians was conducted between April 9 and April 11; it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
Commentary by the Ottawa Mens Centre
The NDP will continue is looser status while it continues to have a leader
who promotes hatred towards the male population of Canada.
The proof is Jack Layton's long history of involvement in Extreme Feminist
promotion of hatred towards men.
In particular, in recent years, Jack Layton has demonstrated strong opposition
to the private member's bill for a Legal Presumption of Equal Parenting.
That means, Jack Layton wants to continue his war on men and the total removal
of legal rights for men.
If you are a father, think of how the cess pool called Family Court has evolved
to enforce Male Sharia Law against men and for that, we can thank the likes of
Jack Layton who represents the front line of Extreme Feminism.
www.OttawaMensCentre.com
The difference between the Conservatives and Liberals is narrowing.
There exists an opportunity for either party to make a rapid increase that might
make the difference between a majority and a stalemate.
That difference is an undertaking to Legislate a Legal Presumption of Equal
Parenting which will largely ELIMINATE a 100 Billion dollar problem of the cess
pool called Family Law and it's subsequent flow on 100 Billion dollar problem of
Criminal Law fueled by the extreme feminist war on men that has largely removed
from children, the right to live with both parents equally in the event of
separation.
Another winning idea is a real authority for the judiciary who presently operate
without any accountability that encourages the worst of the worst of the
Judiciary, the underbelly, to flagrantly abuse their judicial powers that abuse
children by denying them a relationship with their father.
Another winning idea is a reform of child support guidelines that presently
encourage rich mothers to impoverish poor fathers and make it next to impossible
for children to have a relationship with their father.
Presently non custodial fathers have more parenting costs than a custodial
mother whose income is not taken into account when deciding basic child support
but is used when deciding extra expenses, that of course are in addition to
child support which is what it should be for.
then we have the blatant bias against men. Virtually not a single man in Ontario
receives spousal support from a woman. Legal commentators have been blunt that
this is solid evidence of the Judicial bias, effectively a war on men that has
got to end.
For every abused disenfranchised father, there are sisters, mothers, aunts,
second wives, daughters ABUSED. Equality means equality and the right of extreme
feminists to abuse men.
Its time for change, What party has the guts to correct the injustice and child
abuse?
www.OttawaMensCentre.com