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Canadian Liberals Lead for First Time Since Election
- The opposition Liberal party has become the most popular political organization in Canada, according to a poll by Decima Research released by the Canadian Press. 33 per cent of respondents would support the Liberals in the next federal election.
The governing Conservative party is second with 31 per cent, followed by the New Democratic Party (NDP) with 15 per cent, the Bloc Québécois with 10 per cent, and the Green party also with 10 per cent. Support for the Grits increased by five points in a week, while backing for the Tories remained stable.
Canadians renewed the House of Commons in January. The Conservative party—led by Stephen Harper—received 36.3 per cent of the vote, and secured 124 seats in the 308-member lower house. Since February, Harper leads a minority administration after more than 12 years of government by the Liberal party.
Earlier this week, a bilateral meeting between Harper and Chinese president Hu Jintao—which was supposed to take placer during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference—was cancelled. Yesterday, Harper discussed his views on the situation, saying, "I think Canadians want us to promote our trade relations worldwide, and we do that, but I don't think Canadians want us to sell our important Canadian values—our belief in democracy, freedom, human rights."
The Liberals had not led a federal voting intention poll conducted by Decima since late December 2005.
Polling Data
What party would you vote for in the next federal election?
Nov. 13 | Nov. 5 | Oct. 16 | |
Liberal | 33% | 28% | 30% |
Conservative | 31% | 31% | 32% |
New Democratic Party | 15% | 18% | 15% |
Bloc Québécois | 10% | 9% | 11% |
Green | 10% | 9% | 10% |
Source: Decima Research / Canadian Press
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,126 Canadian adults, conducted from Nov. 9 to Nov. 13, 2006. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.