Tories and NDP in statistical tie, poll suggests

The federal Conservatives and the NDP are in a statistical dead heat among committed Canadian voters, a new Nanos poll suggests.

Among the committed voters polled, 33.6 per cent of respondents indicated their preference was the NDP, while the Conservatives had 33.5 per cent support.

Nik Nanos, president of the polling firm, pointed out that this is the first time in its tracking history that the NDP has numerically surpassed the Conservatives — albeit by 0.1 percentage points. "The research suggests that there is no significant negative blowback by Thomas Mulcair's comments on the oilsands," he said.

The Liberal Party secured 24.9 per cent of respondents, the Bloc Québécois had 3.4 per cent support and the Green Party trailed with 2.4 per cent.

Survey respondents were asked to rank their top two party preferences.

The Nanos telephone survey was conducted between May 26 and May 31 on a random sample of 1,201 respondents with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points 19 times out of 20. For the 1,006 committed voters, the margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
Harper tops leadership

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper outranks his counterparts as the most trustworthy federal leader, beating NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae, the same poll suggests.

When asked to select which leader they would best describe as the most trustworthy, 22.9 per cent of respondents chose Harper. Next up was "None of them," which was selected by 17.2 per cent of respondents.

Mulcair was selected by 15.5 per cent of respondents, while Rae was named by 10.8 per cent. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May earned 8.3 per cent support.

One in five respondents, 23.5 per cent, remained undecided.
Health care and jobs most important issues

Meanwhile, health care and the economy top the list of important issues for Canadians, the poll suggests.

When asked to identify their most important national issue of concern, 22.5 per cent of respondents named health care, while 21.2 per cent specified jobs or the economy.

Education came in third place with 6.9 per cent of the respondents naming it the top issue, while concerns over the environment and high taxes rounded out the list with 6.2 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.

Original Article
Source: CBC
Author: cbc