(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Conservative leader Stephen Harper and Liberal leader Stéphane Dion are regarded as the winners of the two televised debates in the Canadian federal electoral campaign, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies released by the Toronto Star.

In the survey, 34 per cent of respondents who watched the English language debate on Oct. 2 believe Harper won, followed by New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton with 19 per cent, Dion with 14 per cent, Green party leader Elizabeth May with 13 per cent, and Bloc Québécois leader Giles Duceppe with one per cent.

Among those who watched the French language on Oct. 1, 32 per cent think Dion was the winner, followed by Duceppe with 27 per cent, Layton with 15 per cent, Harper with 10 per cent, and May with two per cent.

Canadians renewed the House of Commons in January 2006. The Conservative party—led by Harper—received 36.3 per cent of the vote, and secured 124 seats in the 308-member lower house. Harper formed a minority administration after more than 12 years of government by the Liberal party.

On Oct. 3, Dion expressed confidence in his party’s chances, saying, "The debates showed us that Stephen Harper can be beaten. I tell you we are stronger together. We can do great things together to create the Canada that we want."

The next federal election in Canada is scheduled for Oct. 14.

Polling Data

If you had to pick only one leader, who do you think won the debate?

Source: Angus Reid Strategies / Toronto Star
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,635 Canadian adults who saw the English language debate on Oct. 2, and 429 Canadian adults who saw the French language debate on Oct. 1. The interviews for respondents who watched the English-language debate were collected AFTER the entire English-language debate was over. The interviews for respondents who watched the French-language debate were collected AFTER the entire French-language debate was over. Margin of error for the total sample of debate watchers is 2.2 per cent.

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