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Liberals Hold Three-Point Edge in Canada
(ARGM) - The opposition Liberal party is holding on to first place in Canada's federal political scene, according to a poll by Decima Research released by the Canadian Press. 35 per cent of respondents would support the Liberals in the next House of Commons ballot.
The governing Conservative party is second with 32 per cent, followed by the New Democratic Party (NDP) with 12 per cent, the Bloc Québécois with 11 per cent, and the Green party with seven per cent. Support for the Grits remained stable since early December, while backing for the Tories increased by one point.
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.
On Dec. 2, former environment minister Stéphane Dion became the new leader of the Liberal party, defeating academic Michael Ignatieff in the fourth and final delegate ballot with 54.7 per cent.
On Dec. 11, Bloc Québécois leader Giles Duceppe threatened to introduce a no-confidence motion on the way the current government has handled Canada's military role in Afghanistan, saying, "We will not go along with an obtuse government that digs in its heels. Because if nothing changes, we are certainly going to get stuck."
On Dec. 12, Harper dismissed Duceppe's comments, declaring, "The only problem here is the political opportunism of the leader of the Bloc Québécois. He's just playing political games on the backs of our soldiers."
Polling Data
What party would you vote for in the next federal election?
Dec. 11 | Dec. 3 | Nov. 13 | |
Liberal | 35% | 35% | 33% |
Conservative | 32% | 31% | 31% |
New Democratic Party | 12% | 12% | 15% |
Bloc Québécois | 11% | 10% | 10% |
Green | 7% | 10% | 10% |
Source: Decima Research / Canadian Press
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,025 Canadian adults, conducted from Dec. 7 to Dec. 11, 2006. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.