Saturday, August 29, 2009

More Details on the AR Poll

The details to the Angus-Reid poll from yesterday have been posted.

So, to fill out the regionals, the Liberals had a very weak 19% in British Columbia, placing them in third. In Alberta, the NDP is second behind the Conservatives with 16%, with the Liberals in third at 12%. In the Prairies, the NDP had a very strong 31%, coming seemingly at the expense of the Liberals who had 17%. In Quebec, the NDP had 12%, and in Atlantic Canada the Liberals are in front with 39%, followed by the NDP at 33% and the Conservatives at 20% - a very poor showing.

This poll would've translated into the following seat totals:

Conservatives - 121
Liberals - 104
Bloc Quebecois - 45
New Democrats - 37
Greens - 1

As to who would make the best Prime Minister, I was wrong. The "none of the above" was not the favoured option, at 21%. But another 18% said they didn't know. Elizabeth May and Gilles Duceppe managed 2% apiece.

Harper's top PM numbers came in Alberta (46%) and his lowest in Quebec (14%). Ignatieff's best result came in Atlantic Canada (29%) and his worst in Alberta (7%). Layton's best result was in Quebec (20%), and his worst was in Alberta (6%).
The poll also asked which of the leaders would be best able to handle the economy, the environment, health care, foreign affairs, and crime. The numbers for Ignatieff aren't very good. I think the issue is that people don't know the Liberal leader very well. Layton and Harper have been on the scene for years, people know what they're about. I imagine an election campaign would clear things up.