Angus Reid Poll: Dion-May pact rejected by Canadians

[TORONTO - Apr. 24, 2007] – Most Canadians have a negative opinion of a recent agreement reached by Liberal leader Stéphane Dion and the leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May, a new Angus Reid Strategies poll has found. In the online survey of a representative national sample, 45 per cent of Canadians disapprove of the leaders’ decision of not running candidates in each other’s ridings in the next federal election, while just 29 per cent approve.

At least four in every ten respondents in each region is against the Dion/May agreement. In Atlantic Canada, the number of people who reject the deal reaches 50 per cent. People in Alberta are the most inclined to reject it (52%), while those in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are the most prone to support it (34%).  

Among Liberal voters, 37 per cent disapprove of the pact to support May, while 52 per cent think otherwise.

The controversial deal will not encourage many people to vote for the Liberals in the next election. Two thirds (65%) of respondents say the agreement does not make them more likely to support the Liberals in the future. However, in Atlantic Canada about one-in-five (22%) do say the pact makes them more inclined to vote for the Liberals.

The agreement has not helped the Greens either, with 72 per cent of respondents saying it does not make them more likely to support the ecological party—which currently has no representation in the House of Commons—in the next federal election.  

The Dion/May pact is perceived by many Canadians (44%) as a sign of weakness on the part of the Liberals and their leader. Twenty-eight per cent of respondents who voted for the Liberals in the last federal election agree with this perception. Respondents in Atlantic Canada feel particularly strongly about it, with 56 per cent of them saying the deal projects weakness.

Asked who they would vote for in the next federal election if they resided in Nova Scotia’s Central Nova riding—where May is to run without Liberal opposition—35 per cent of respondents across Canada say they would support Conservative candidate Peter MacKay. May is second with 22 per cent, followed by NDP candidate Louise Loriface with 16 per cent. Support for MacKay is highest in Alberta (69%), May is popular in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (27%), and Loriface leads in Atlantic Canada, with 30 per cent. Liberal voters would be more likely to support the NDP candidate (53%) in this riding than the Green leader (41%).

Finally, on the wake of the Dion/May agreement, Canadians dislike the idea of a possible merger between the Liberals, the NDP and the Greens. More than half (52%) of respondents think these political parties should not unite.

More information and tables on attached PDF.

Contact:  Craig Worden, Vice President, Public Affairs
416-644-4038 or craig.worden@angus-reid.com