The Conservative Party's lead over main opposition Liberals has widened to
16 percentage points in public support, according to a new poll ahead of
Canada's October 14 election.
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll, released Sunday, put the Conservatives
at 39 percent, compared with the Liberals at 23 percent.
The poll, which was done during the past four days, found the Conservatives
up two percentage points over the past week. The Liberals were down three
points.
It put the New Democratic Party (NDP) at 17 percent, up from 15percent. The
Green Party rose from 9 percent to 11 percent, while the Bloc Quebecois remained
at eight percent.
The poll asked the question: "If a federal election were held tomorrow, who
do you think you would be voting for in your area," and then lists the parties.
The average sample was 1,344 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7
percent.
In terms of leaders, the NDP's Jack Layton ranked first, followed by Bloc
Quebecois' Gilles Duceppe, the Green's Elizabeth May and the Conservatives'
Stephen Harper four. The Liberal's Stephane Dion came a distant fifth.
The Conservatives won the 2006 election by 36 percent of the votes. A party
needs the support of at least 40 percent voters to gain a majority in the
308-seat parliament and thus a majority government.
