Mulcair top choice for PM, Harper third: poll

MONTREAL:The three main parties may be in a dead heat ahead of October’s federal election but a new poll seems to suggest that a plurality of Canadians think NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is best suited for the job of prime minister.
The Ipsos online poll of 1,000 Canadians determined that 37 per cent believe Mulcair would make the best prime minister compared to 32 per cent for Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and 31 per cent for Conservative Leader Stephen Harper. Mulcair’s numbers were up six per cent from the last time Ipsos asked the question in April while Harper’s were down seven per cent and Trudeau’s were about the same.
Mulcair polled particularly well in Quebec (53 per cent) and Atlantic Canada (43 per cent) while Harper fared better in Alberta (46 per cent) and Manitoba/Saskatchewan (43 per cent). Meanwhile, Ontarians were fairly split with 35 per cent believing Mulcair would make the best prime minister, 33 per cent preferring Harper for the job and 31 per cent saying Trudeau would be the better candidate.
Duffy trial hasn’t swayed many votes
The poll, which was conducted from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26, comes as the Mike Duffy trial takes another recess that is expected to last until November.
Though the trial has been repeatedly brought up by both Mulcair and Trudeau, the poll found that it hasn’t actually had a significant impact on voters.
In fact, about 68 per cent of respondents agreed that news from the trial hasn’t changed who they intend to vote for.
“Although one in three (32 per cent) disagree that they haven’t been impacted by the trial, only 13 per cent of Canadians ‘strongly disagree’ with this premise – suggesting that the proportion of voters who have actually changed their vote is quite low, and consistent with the relative stability of the national popular vote figures among decided voters,” Ipsos said in a press release accompanying the poll.
The poll found that NDP supporters were the most likely to indicate that the Duffy trial had impacted their vote (16 per cent) followed by Liberal supporters (13 per cent).
Perhaps most surprising, though, the poll found that 10 per cent of Conservative supporters had indicated that the trial had swayed their vote, suggesting that the Tories have actually gained the support of some as a result of testimony and evidence presented during the trial.
The poll is considered accurate to within 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.