IN ASSOCIATION WITH CBC NEWS NETWORK’S POWER AND POLITICS, EKOS RESEARCH ASSOCIATES IS CONDUCTING SURVEYS USING QUESTIONS AND TOPICS SUBMITTED BY VIEWERS. EKOS PRESIDENT, FRANK GRAVES LOOKS AT THE RESULTS OF THIS WEEK’S SURVEY.

[Ottawa – December 3, 2009] – Despite announcements that the recession is over, we see an unusual pattern among the public where management of the economy continues to be the dominant election issue (named by 31%), followed by social issues (27%). While the environment and climate change continue to be important issues for Canadians (tied with fiscal issues at 18%), they have yet to reclaim the salience… [More...]

December 3rd, 2009 | Category: National Results, Uncategorized | Comments (1)

It is interesting to compare the first week of the polling period and the final week of the polling period.

Two notable findings are evident. First of all, the Conservatives’ lead dropped by two points (from 37.7 to 35.7). Secondly, the ten-point advantage that the government enjoyed on “right direction” for federal government evaporated in the second week where right and wrong direction were tied for the first time in two months.

Against the backdrop of the growing controversy of Afghan detainees, these trends bear careful monitoring.

Click here for results: update_to_release_november_26

November 26th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

[Ottawa – Nov 26, 2009] - The extremely robust sample in EKOS’ latest survey of Canadians’ voting intentions (5,759 cases), conducted for exclusive release by the CBC, gives a deeper sounding of the Tories’ current ten-point lead over the second place Liberals.

Looking at segments of the Canadian electorate, the bedrock for the Tories is the group of Canadians over the age of 45.  The Conservatives do very well among baby-boomers. Their support among seniors is literally twice as high as among young people. Among Canadians under 45, the Conservatives fare less well, but no single party dominates these younger groups.

Indeed… [More...]

November 26th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Leave a comment

IN ASSOCIATION WITH CBC NEWS NETWORK’S POWER AND POLITICS, EKOS RESEARCH ASSOCIATES IS CONDUCTING SURVEYS USING QUESTIONS AND TOPICS SUBMITTED BY VIEWERS. EKOS PRESIDENT, FRANK GRAVES LOOKS AT THE RESULTS OF THIS WEEK’S SURVEY.

[Ottawa – November 19, 2009] – This week’s special question looks at the issue of gun control in general, and the long-gun registry in particular. The results are highly revealing of a deeply fractured public on an emotionally charged issue. The research also shows that opposition to the long-gun registry may not be a good indicator of broader attitudes to gun control. In fact many people who… [More...]

November 19th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Comments (2)

[Ottawa – November 19, 2009] - EKOS Research Associates is pleased to announce that, starting today, its highly successful series of weekly polls conducted for exclusive release by the CBC will be moving into a new phase in cooperation with Evan Solomon’s Power and Politics program on the CBC News Network.

Later today, on Power and Politics, Evan will be releasing the results of a survey question suggested by a viewer.  We will be reporting on a similar viewer-suggested question every second week on Power and Politics.

The CBC will be selecting the question for each of these surveys, in cooperation with… [More...]

November 19th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

[Ottawa - November 12, 2009] - Last month, EKOS posted seat projections based on our weekly survey of vote intention, which is released by the CBC.

At the time, the Conservatives were enjoying a sudden updraft in popularity, apparently driven by the Liberal threat to bring the government down and force an election. They hit 40.7%, which is several percentage points above the range in which they have been trading over the last year (with the exception of the period of the short-lived “coalition” scheme led by Stéphane Dion’s Liberals).

What was interesting about the seat projection done at that time was… [More...]

November 13th, 2009 | Category: Seat Projection | Leave a comment

LIBS TEN PERCENTAGE POINTS BEHIND TORIES

[Ottawa – November 12, 2009] – More than half of Canadians say that the high level of public concern over H1N1 is “exaggerated”. Just one in ten thinks the level of public concern is “understated”.

Fourteen per cent of Canadians reported having already received the H1N1 inoculation in this survey. “This is actually a very large number – about 5 million when you extrapolate the findings to the broader population,” said EKOS President Frank Graves.

Unlike many other things we look at in these surveys, the distribution of those who have received the shot is pretty even across… [More...]

November 12th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Leave a comment

CANADIANS DON’T WANT PARTY INFLUENCE ON STIMULUS SPENDING

[Ottawa – November 5, 2009] – A recession, a new Liberal leader, a new president south of the border – all coming since last year’s Canadian election – but after many ups and downs since then, Canada’s two major political parties are back where they were in the election of 2008, almost to the decimal point.

The Conservatives, who broke out to establish a double-digit lead over the Liberals since the summer, have ebbed a little from their peak. They are now at 37.4% support in the latest EKOS poll, just a fifth of… [More...]

November 5th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Comments (1)

HARPER/LAYTON SHOULD STAY, IGNATIEFF SHOULD GO, CANADIANS SAY

[Ottawa – October 29, 2009] – Stephen Harper’s federal Conservatives lead the second-place Liberals by a double-digit margin for the fourth week in a row, suggesting that the neck-and-neck race between the two major parties in the spring and summer has now been displaced by a new pattern of relative Conservative dominance.

“This is not a blip,” said EKOS President Frank Graves. “The Tories streaked into their current lead when the Liberals started threatening an early election in the late fall. However, they are now standing up despite negative news reports about the distribution… [More...]

October 29th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Comments (1)

CANADIANS WANT MAJORITY: BUT LIBERAL OR CONSERVATIVE?

[Ottawa – October 22, 2009] – Canada’s two leading parties are now back almost to where they were in the last election, held a year ago this month. The Conservatives are tantalizingly close to majority territory, but possibly just short. The Liberals are mired at less than 30% - at a level that is near to their historic low.

“In the first two weeks of this month, the Conservatives tipped into comfortable majority territory, but the scales are so delicately balanced that even a slight tightening of the race, as we have seen this week… [More...]

October 22nd, 2009 | Category: National Results | Comments (7)

[Ottawa – October 15, 2009] – From time to time, EKOS releases seat projections based on our weekly soundings of Canadians’ voting intentions.

There has been a dramatic shift in the Canadian political landscape in recent months. During the summer, the Liberals gradually gave up the advantage they had enjoyed over the Conservatives during most of the spring; but even as recently as our first weekly poll in September, the two leading parties were in an exact tie, at 32.6% each.

That seems like a long time ago. The Liberals have now dipped to historic lows… [More...]

October 15th, 2009 | Category: Seat Projection | Comments (3)

Canadians less pessimistic about economy/more conservative about government spending

Following last week’s movement upward in the polls, Canada’s federal Conservatives have solidified an impressive, potentially majority-producing lead among Canadians, with the Liberals now mired at the same historic lows under Michael Ignatieff that they suffered under former leader Stéphane Dion.

Meanwhile, Canadians are getting more optimistic – or at least less pessimistic

October 15th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Leave a comment

Liberals at lowest ebb since Ignatieff became leader

[Ottawa – October 8, 2009] – Stephen Harper’s Conservatives could win a majority if an election were held right now, having erased the Liberal Party’s lead among women, the university educated, and Canadians born abroad – demographic groups that were until recently firmly in the Liberals’ domain.

October 8th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Comments (1)

ONLY ALBERTANS NOW SUPPORT WAR IN AFGHANISTAN; NEARLY HALF OF CANADIANS WANT COMPULSORY VOTING

[Ottawa – October 1, 2009] – In this week’s EKOS tracking poll, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives sustained the lead they have built up since the threat of an election first emerged in late August. The Liberals now lead only in the Atlantic provinces, and although they are holding up reasonably well in Quebec, the fallout (if any) from their internal difficulties there this week is probably not yet measurable.

October 1st, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

NDP SAG ON SUPPORT FOR GOVERNMENT?

[Ottawa – September 24, 2009] – The federal Conservatives, who were locked in a dead heat with the Liberals just three weeks ago, have edged steadily into a comfortable lead nationally, according to the weekly EKOS poll conducted for the CBC. The Conservatives now appear to be competitive even among some groups, such as young voters and Toronto voters, once largely beyond their reach.

September 24th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (1)

[Ottawa – September 17, 2009] – The federal Conservatives have continued to build their lead over the Liberal Party, which opened up after the possibility of a fall election triggered by the withdrawal of Liberal support was first raised a little more than two weeks ago.

Significantly, the Conservatives have established a lead over the Liberals in battleground Ontario at a time when Canadians in general are expressing somewhat more confidence in the direction of the country.

Contrary to some

September 17th, 2009 | Category: National Results | Comments (1)

CANADIANS SAY “NO” TO FALL ELECTION BY MARGIN OF MORE THAN 2-1

[Ottawa – September 10, 2009] – After a summer in which the two major parties have been in a virtual tie more often than not, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have now opened up a small but statistically significant lead in the wake of the Liberal Party’s threat to force a federal election this fall.

The most significant changes took place in Ontario, where the Liberals have surrendered their previous lead to the Conservatives, and in Quebec, where the Liberals

September 10th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Comments (3)

MUCH TIGHTER RACE THAN THIS TIME LAST YEAR

[Ottawa – September 3, 2009] – For the second year running, Canadians head into the Labour Day weekend with talk of a federal election in the air. But this time, neither party has reason to feel confident of the outcome.

This week’s EKOS Research poll, conducted for the CBC, finds the ruling Conservatives in a dead heat with the Liberals. In each of EKOS’s weekly polls through July and August, the race between the two parties has been very, very close.

September 3rd, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

LIBERALS HEAD TO NATIONAL CAUCUS WITH GRIP ON ONTARIO SLIPPING

[Ottawa – August 27, 2009] – At their national caucus in Sudbury next week the federal Liberals may be considering whether to take down the minority Conservative government when Parliament resumes in the fall. But this week’s national sample of vote intention by EKOS Research, for exclusive release by the CBC, suggests they may want to think twice.

The Liberals are now in a statistical tie with the Conservatives in Ontario – their traditional heartland, the province they need

August 27th, 2009 | Category: Uncategorized | Leave a comment