Make Parliament work: Poll
Tories need caution, pollster says
Liberal support up since election
SUSAN DELACOURT
OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF
OTTAWA—Canadians
would most likely blame the Conservatives if the minority government in
Ottawa collapses, according to a new poll out today. A full 46
per cent of respondents to a Toronto Star-EKOS survey said the
Conservative opposition would be most likely to benefit from a fall of
Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal government. EKOS concluded
that the public "would probably assign more responsibility/censure to
the Conservatives who are seen as most poised to benefit."When
EKOS asked people about how they would feel about an imminent election,
56 per cent said they would rather the parties co-operated and made the
minority Parliament work. That isn't to say, though, that an imminent
election would be totally out of the question.The poll says 40 per cent of people want parties to "stick to their principles even if it means risking another election." "It's
apparent that the Conservative party would probably wear the mantle of
mischief-maker if the government fell," EKOS president Frank Graves
says. "But there's little upside for any party in provoking an election
now. "Clearly the expectation from the public is: `We voted for this mess, we might as well see it through.'" The
poll was conducted by telephone last month, through interviews with
1,237 people 18 years of age or older. The results are considered
accurate within 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Graves
believes the poll results show why all the federal parties are treading
cautiously in this new minority Parliament, wary of enraging a public
that is largely tepid in its enthusiasm for anything happening in the
federal scene right now. Conservative leader Stephen Harper should probably be the most cautious, Graves says. Though
Martin's Liberals have regained a comfortable lead in party-standing
results with 37.2 per cent, Conservatives are still close to their
election strength with 26.8 per cent. (In the June 28 election, 36.7
per cent of Canadians voted Liberal, while 29.6 per cent voted
Conservative.) New Democrats, who attracted about 15 per cent support
in June, are now at 17.4 per cent, while the Bloc Québécois is at 10.4
per cent.
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