Little change in federal polling numbers for Liberals and Conservatives, despite ethics report: poll
Posted August 20, 2019 9:08 am.
Last Updated August 20, 2019 9:16 am.
OTTAWA (NEWS 1130) – The Prime Minister’s ethics violations in the SNC-Lavalin affair may have caused some bad headlines, but they don’t appear to be making a big impact in the polls.
The Conservatives and the Liberals remain locked in a statistical dead heat. And Mike Colledge, President of Ipsos Public Affairs, says even with the ethics commissioner’s report, there hasn’t been a significant change.
“We saw the Conservatives drop two points, the Liberals up two points, all well within the margin of error,” he says. “So, they have the Conservatives at 35 per cent [and] the Liberals at 33.”
Colledge says the scandal is likely not having a big impact so far because voters already made up their minds about the Prime Minister’s actions in the spring.
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“So when the ethics commissioner came out last week for the majority of the population it was yes, that confirms either that side or that side, whichever [they] felt going into that.”
But, he adds, there is a risk for the Liberals if the negative headlines continue in the coming weeks.
“The longer this discussion is going on, the less likely the Liberals are able to move their numbers up. So, if the Conservatives and NDP can keep them talking about SNC-Lavalin, then I think they’d be happy to see that.”
The other parties are still well back in the polls, with the NDP at 18 per cent and the Greens at nine.
The federal election takes place this October.
