Poll Says Canadian Conservatives Close to Gaining a Majority

The Strategic Counsel survey has shown the Conservatives with support of 37 per cent of voters, just below the 40 per cent threshold that pollsters say gives a strong chance of winning a majority government.

As the talk spins towards the next Canadian federal election and an October 14th, 2008 date, a recent poll shows the Conservatives are very close to gaining the majority they seek. The Strategic Counsel survey shows the Conservatives with support of 37 percent of voters and 40 percent is the threshold pollsters say gives a strong chance of winning a majority government. The opposition Liberals are sitting at 29 percent, the NDP 17 percent polled and the Greens polled 9 percent. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been quoted as saying that he thinks an election is the only way to fix what he sees as a dysfunctional Parliament. "With these numbers, a majority is within the reach of the Conservatives, but not yet in their grasp," pollster Peter Donolo told the Globe. Liberal leader Stephane Dion has placed the environment front and centre in his platform and the poll showed that 15 per cent of voters agreed that the environment was the most important issue at this election, and 20 per cent thought the Liberals were the best party to deal with the issue. On the other hand 20 percent viewed Canada's slowing domestic economy as the most important issue, and 38 percent thought the Conservatives were the best party to deal with it. Strategic Counsel polled 1,000 Canadian voters for its survey; results are accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 95 percent of the time.