MOST CANADIANS EMPHASIZE INVESTMENT OVER TAX/DEFICIT CUTS

[Ottawa – March 4, 2010] - The Conservatives retained a three-percentage point lead over the opposition Liberals in this week’s EKOS Research Associates poll – the last conducted before today’s federal budget. The size of the lead is virtually unchanged from last week’s poll.

“Although a lead of this size is small – near the edge of statistical significance – the fact that it has held now for two weeks suggests it is real,” said Frank Graves, President of EKOS Research Associates. “In any case, it is a substantial fall from the nine-point lead the… [More...]

March 4th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Leave a comment

HARPER’S MANY DETRACTORS CAN’T FIND A CHAMPION

[Ottawa – February 25, 2010] - Stephen Harper has a couple of things going for him, according to a new EKOS poll on political leadership: Conservative supporters approve strongly of his job performance, and though most other Canadians may not, they haven’t found anyone to rally around.

The poll, conducted for release by the CBC program Power and Politics, shows that more than half of Canadians disapprove of the way the prime minister is doing his job.  That’s substantially worse than the last time EKOS asked the question in mid-autumn.

Just 33% of Canadians approve of… [More...]

February 25th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (7)

LIBS STALL/TORIES RISE

[Ottawa – February 25, 2010] - After several weeks in which Canada’s two major parties have been neck-and-neck, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have opened up a three percentage point lead over the Liberals. The shift, though small, puts the Conservatives back in comfortable minority-government territory if an election were held.

“The Liberals rode the dissatisfaction with the government over Afghan detainees, Copenhagen and prorogation back into contention after what was for them a disastrous early fall,” said EKOS President Frank Graves. “However, they have not had been able to find the leadership or the message to build on that momentum… [More...]

February 25th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (5)

NEITHER PARTY MUSTERS EVEN A THIRD OF CANADIANS

[Ottawa – February 18, 2010] - The dramatic movement in the fortunes of Canada’s two leading parties over the last four months seems to have come to an end, with neither able to muster even a third of Canadians in support. The Conservatives retain a narrow lead over the second-place Liberals who are too feeble at the moment to overtake a governing party that is mired at 31% support.

“It is extremely unusual for no party to command even a third of the electorate over many weeks, which is the situation we have now,”… [More...]

February 18th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (3)

QUEBECKERS STRONGEST ADVOCATES OF SPENDING CUTS

[Ottawa – February 11, 2010] – Canadians seem to want the federal government to take on the deficit, and to do it through spending cuts.

In response to a viewer-suggested question on the CBC program Power and Politics, EKOS surveyed more than three thousand Canadians on the question, which will be on the top of the political agenda when the government introduces its budget after the Olympics.

First, the viewer wanted us to ask Canadians whether they had heard of the recent report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, which projected Canada would run a deficit… [More...]

February 11th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (2)

OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS WANT EARLY ELECTION; TORY SUPPORTERS WANT TO WAIT

[Ottawa – February 11, 2010] - The federal Conservatives have gotten a small reprieve in this week’s EKOS poll, after months of sliding backwards, then into a tie with the Liberal Party. The Conservatives now have a small, but statistically significant lead over their chief opposition rival.

“The Conservatives should be heartened by the fact that the bleeding has clearly stopped and that the issues of Afghan detainees and prorogation have exhausted themselves,” said EKOS President, Frank Graves. “However, a growing plurality of Canadians now feel the government is headed in the… [More...]

February 11th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (3)

TURNING THE PAGE HASN’T CHANGED THE TREND

[Ottawa – February 4, 2010] - For the third week running the federal Conservatives and their Liberal opponents are virtually deadlocked in public support, and for the second week running the Liberals are showing a small numerical edge, but within the margin of error

“Clearly the strong trend away from the Conservatives, which is now more than three months underway, and the more recent trend to the Liberals, have slowed somewhat,” said EKOS President Frank Graves. “This is not surprising since the Conservatives are now down closer to their core of most committed supporters.”

“That having… [More...]

February 4th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (6)

TORY VOTERS MORE SKEPTICAL ABOUT LOOSENING IMMIGRATION RULES

[Ottawa – January 28, 2010] – Canadians are giving the federal government strong support for its efforts in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti earlier this month. However, this is not giving the ruling party the lift it might have expected in the race with the opposition parties.

Two-thirds of Canadians say the speed of the government’s actions is just right. Just over half say the scale of resources devoted to relief and reconstruction is just right. And while many Tory supporters don’t like the government’s decision to loosen immigration rules to… [More...]

January 28th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Leave a comment

SIGN THAT SHIFT MAY BE STRUCTURAL

[Ottawa – January 28, 2010] - For the second week in a row, the opposition Liberals are in a dead heat with the ruling Conservatives – now nominally ahead, in fact – a sign that the government’s adroit handling of the Haiti crisis has not reversed its steady decline in voters’ favour, which began mid-autumn.

“There is no evidence that the government’s actions on Haiti are providing any relief in the Conservatives’ decline from clear dominance of the political landscape in October to basic parity with the Liberals today,” said EKOS President Frank Graves. “At this… [More...]

January 28th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (5)

“HAITI EFFECT” NOT YET BOOSTING TORIES

[Ottawa – January 21, 2010] - The federal Liberals have pulled into a virtual tie with the Conservatives in the past week – the first time they have drawn so close to the governing party since late summer.

“The Conservative Party has been in decline since mid-October,” said EKOS President Frank Graves. “However, for the first time it is possible to say that the Liberals have also had a rebound – albeit a more modest one.”

The Liberals sunk into the mid-20 percent range in the fall after threatening to force an election. Today’s poll marks the… [More...]

January 21st, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (6)

MANY CANADIANS GRUMPY ABOUT COST OF OLYMPICS – ESPECIALLY IN B.C.

[Ottawa – January 14, 2010] – A slim plurality of Canadians say that too much is being spent on the Winter Olympic games to be held in Vancouver next month, although almost as many say that “just the right amount is being spent”. Just seven per cent say that too little is being spent.

“Perhaps the most startling element of this poll,” said EKOS President Frank Graves, “is that in British Columbia, there is a veritable landslide for those saying that too much is being spent on the Olympics. Obviously, the… [More...]

January 14th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (3)

PROROGATION KICKS KNEES FROM UNDERNEATH GOVERNMENT

[Ottawa – January 14, 2010] - In a stunning turnaround for the ruling Conservatives, who were comfortably in majority territory just three months ago, the Tories now find themselves struggling to stay ahead of the opposition Liberals.

“For those who have been speculating as to whether Canadians really care about the ‘obscure’ issue of prorogation the evidence is now incontrovertible,” said EKOS President Frank Graves.  “Canadians have noticed, they do care and this is having a very negative impact on Conservative fortunes.”

The 15-point lead the Conservatives enjoyed over the Liberals in mid-October has tumbled to just… [More...]

January 14th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (5)

CLEAR LEAN TO DISAPPROVAL

[Ottawa – January 7, 2010] – Most Canadians say they are aware of Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament, and among those who are there is strong disapproval – by a margin of about two-to-one.

“The initial evidence is that Canadians are indeed paying attention to the issue of prorogation,” said EKOS President Frank Graves, “and they don’t like it.”

“The Conservatives may have prorogued in part to stem the tide of bad news coming from the parliamentary committee investigating the Afghan detainee issue. However, prorogation may actually be giving new momentum to the downward slide in Tory support… [More...]

January 7th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Leave a comment

ONE IN THREE CANADIANS NOW SUPPORT RULING CONSERVATIVES

[Ottawa – January 7, 2010] - Canada’s ruling Conservatives, who surged into a commanding lead and comfortable majority territory in the wake of Liberal threats to trigger an election in the fall, have sunk back hard.

The Conservative lead over the Liberals, which was as high as 15 percentage points in mid-October, is now about five. Two-thirds of Canadians who express a preference are now choosing one of the opposition parties to support.

At 33 points – a low not seen since the summer – a majority is a fantasy for the Conservatives for the… [More...]

January 7th, 2010 | Category: National Results | Comments (6)

Due to the upcoming holidays, we will be taking a short hiatus and we will return with an update on Canadian federal voting intentions on January 7, 2010.

Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year…

December 22nd, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

COMMENTS AND OBSERVATIONS BY FRANK GRAVES

[Ottawa – December 17, 2009] – Many have commented on the dismal overall rates of voter participation in Canada (the anaemic rates declined to historical nadir in 2008). This lack of participation was particularly pronounced amongst the under-45 population; “Generation X” had weak voting rates, and the younger “Generation Y” stayed home in droves. This was in sharp contrast to the significant spike up in voting rates amongst young Americans in the last Presidential election (a crucial factor which propelled Obama to victory). In Canada, there was and is no current Obama analogue, and younger… [More...]

December 18th, 2009 | Category: Commentary by Frank Graves, Uncategorized | Comments (2)

CANADIANS WANT INTERNET VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS

[Ottawa – December 17, 2009] – Canadians strongly favour the introduction of voting over the internet according to a major poll of Canadians conducted by EKOS Research Associates for the CBC.

Nearly half of Canadians say they would “very likely” vote online if that option were available to them. Another 15% say they would be “somewhat likely” to do so.

Not surprisingly, young people, who have had lower rates of voting than their elders in recent years, are the most enthusiastic about internet voting.

“Canada’s already anaemic voter turnout hit a historic low in 2008,” said EKOS… [More...]

December 17th, 2009 | Category: National Results, Uncategorized | Comments (4)

[Ottawa – December 17, 2009] - The overall political landscape continues to drift back to a familiar steady state with no party poised to disrupt the pattern of minority governments. The most recent poll confirms that the steady but mild erosion of Conservative fortunes is a stable pattern and the new normal no longer has the Conservatives knocking on the door of a majority. To the contrary, they are back firmly in minority territory and they have surrendered their advantage of having been seen as moving the federal government in the right direction.

The numbers are now deadlocked and at 35.9… [More...]

December 17th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Comments (2)

BROAD DISSATISFACTION WITH FEDERAL TRANSPARENCY

[Ottawa – December 10, 2009] – The issue involving allegations of torture of prisoners handed off to Afghan authorities by the Canadian Forces is clearly a significant and possibly growing problem for the government.

A clear majority of Canadians believe that Canadian Forces handed off prisoners with the knowledge that they might be subject to torture (61% nationally and over 70% outside of CPC supporters). Of that, the vast majority (83%) believe that transferred prisoners were undoubtedly subjected to torture.

Turning to the question of satisfaction with the Government’s level of transparency and disclosure on this issue, it… [More...]

December 10th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Comments (1)