Federal Liberal party’s popularity dips: poll – TheChronicleHerald.ca

Though the federal Liberal Party remains the top choice for Atlantic Canadians, satisfaction as well as party and leader preference has taken a dive in all four provinces.

According to new numbers from Corporate Research Associates, if an election were held today, 60 per cent of Nova Scotians would vote for the Grits, down from 68 per cent in November the lowest level of support in the Atlantic Provinces. Regionally, 62 per cent say they would vote Liberal, down also from 68.

The Conservative Party saw the highest increase in support in Nova Scotia, going from 16 to 21 per cent in the last quarter, followed by the undecided vote, going from 25 to 32 per cent. The NDP and Green party sit at 14 and five per cent support, both up by two percentage points.,

For leader preference, Justin Trudeaus 60 per cent support has dropped to 52 per cent, while support for Tory interim leader Rona Ambrose increased slightly from 13 to 14 per cent, as did Thomas Mulcair (seven to nine per cent) and the Greens Elizabeth May (seven to eight). The none of the above option went up four percentage points from three to seven per cent likely as people look ahead to upcoming leadership races in both the NDP and Conservative parties.

Regionally, 54 per cent support Justin Trudeau, down from 62 per cent, while increases in support were between one and three per cent for the other leaders as well as the undecided contingent.

In Nova Scotia, as with the Atlantic region as a whole, the percentage of people completely or mostly satisfied with the Liberal governments performance dipped significantly in the last quarter, from 72 per cent to 64 per cent provincially, and 73 to 65 per cent across the Atlantic region. At the same time, the percentage of people mostly or completely dissatisfied with the governments performance saw a big increase, from 20 to 28 per cent regionally, and 20 to 30 per cent in Nova Scotia.

Last month, another CRA poll showed a downward trend for the provincial Liberals as well.

Don Mills, chairman and CEO of CRA, said the decline in support is no surprise, considering the Liberals historic popularity in the region early in their mandate.

Whats surprising is that they were up that high for that long. Its really unprecedented from our tracking over the last 25 years, Mills said.

Mills told the Chronicle Herald that support is still high enough that if a federal election were called tomorrow, the Liberals could still win all their seats in the region.

These numbers are the result of CRAs independent, quarterly survey of 1,511 adult Atlantic Canadians, conducted during the month of February, with overall results accurate to within 2.5 percentage points, 95 of 100 times.

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Federal Liberal party's popularity dips: poll - TheChronicleHerald.ca