Conservative Party: Tories Would Lose Majority If Election Were Held Today, Polls Suggest

Conservative Party

The Huffington Post Canada   First Posted: 11/15/11 01:22 PM ET Updated: 11/15/11 01:49 PM ET

If an election were held today, the Conservatives would probably lose their majority in the House of Commons. But the New Democrats would not be much closer to replacing them.

Two polls released over the last few days by Ipsos-Reid and Harris-Decima show small shifts in support from the May 2 election, but not enough to completely overturn the results. A Conservative slip of between three and four points, however, puts them solidly in minority territory.

Neither the Liberals nor the New Democrats have benefited from this drop to any great extent. While the Liberals are up in both polls compared to their election results, neither has them far outside the margin of error. The same goes for the NDP, which is down at most two points since the election, or is standing still.

Fully two-thirds of Canadians think the New Democrats are doing a good job as the Official Opposition, likely explaining how they have managed to tread water without Jack Layton at the helm.

But the leaderless party could get some grief from Quebec, especially if they do not choose a bilingual person as leader. Virtually every single Quebecer thinks the NDP needs to choose a leader who speaks both official languages, and a majority of English Canadians feel the same way. Though the two front-runners, Brian Topp and (especially) Thomas Mulcair, are bilingual there are a few names in the NDP race that have less than passable French.

There is an opening in Quebec, particularly if the New Democrats choose a unilingual leader. Both polls show the New Democrats have slipped from 43 per cent on election day to between 36 and 38 per cent support. This might not be a huge decrease considering the margin of error of smaller regional samples, but the consistency across these two polls should be cause for concern for the NDP in Quebec.

That is because the Bloc Québécois is not quite dead yet. Though the Bloc is down three points to 20 per cent in the Harris-Decima poll, the party is up three points in the Ipsos-Reid survey to 26 per cent (again, because of the margin of error these results are not as contradictory as they may seem).

This is a higher level of support than other polls have found the Bloc to be at in recent months, suggesting that the party’s base of support has not fallen away.

The party is currently in the process of choosing its next leader, with a debate having already taken place in Quebec City and another scheduled for November 15 in Montreal. Daniel Paillé, former PQ cabinet minister and MP for the Bloc, is considered the front-runner. If he is chosen, one of the Bloc’s four MPs might step down to give him an opportunity to win a by-election and enter the House of Commons. With a newly minted leader, the Bloc may be able to eat into NDP support in the province.

But the New Democrats are not the only party facing an electoral challenge. Indeed, they appear to be causing the Conservatives trouble in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. And in Ontario, the Tories have dropped below the 40 per cent mark. The province handed the Conservatives a majority in May, but would take it away at these levels of support.

Of course, the next election will not take place for another four years. But voters are hard to win back once they are lost.

Éric Grenier taps The Pulse of federal and regional politics for Huffington Post Canada readers on most Tuesdays and Fridays. Grenier is the author of ThreeHundredEight.com, covering Canadian politics, polls, and electoral projections.

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If an election were held today, the Conservatives would probably lose their majority in the House of Commons. But the New Democrats would not be much closer to replacing them. Two polls released ov...
If an election were held today, the Conservatives would probably lose their majority in the House of Commons. But the New Democrats would not be much closer to replacing them. Two polls released ov...
 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
lulex
Made in Canada
11:18 PM on 12/22/2011
I can't wait to vote. I want this man out in the worst way.
01:01 PM on 12/15/2011
Polls tell only what the few people they ask think. The painful reality is that we get fooled every single time by the promises and lies worked into the pre-election snow job we keep falling for.
When Canadians pry themselves away from their cell phones and other entertainment designed to keep them stupid and really examine the candidates our elections might reflect more of who we really are.
Awake Oh Canada put down the remote and the gameboy and get proactive about your country or we are doomed to feudalism.
05:57 PM on 11/25/2011
Another story that should bide its time. The election is many years away and a lot can happen in the meantime. The Conservatives are doing much the same as previous majority governments - getting all their pet projects done now. You may not like it, but that's politics and until they do something really egregious, they have my vote.
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CanadaStan
Cogito ergo spud, I think, therefore I yam
07:53 PM on 11/19/2011
The NDP just got smoked provincially in Sask, worst showing ever.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cameron d
Good Guys Win
03:56 PM on 11/17/2011
Don't blame me, I never voted for those clowns.
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07:32 PM on 11/16/2011
These same pollsters said just prior to the last election that it was touch and go whether Harper would win a majority. Turns out it wasn't even close.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
rickthaluddite
What noisy cats are we
09:09 PM on 11/16/2011
It WAS close in a lot of ridings-- the Conservatives didn't win every seat by a 50,000 vote margin.
10:21 PM on 11/16/2011
What can I say...

A poll this early in his mandate is kind of pointless

Unless the Liberal find a leader (no, Rae doesn't count) real soon... we will have another Conservative majority in the next election.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
cameron d
Good Guys Win
03:55 PM on 11/17/2011
Why can't Bob Rae count?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Tyler Austin
Women = people. Corperations ≠ people.
05:09 PM on 11/16/2011
One way they could shore up support for the government would be to you know, govern.

When the Tories arn't dodging ethics complaints they're using thier time to attack the NDP and the poor down and out Liberals.
Did someone just forget to explain to them that in a majority, especilly with a newly appointed Senate majority and stacked Supreme court, they don't HAVE to spend every minate of every day trying to smear and attack the opposition?

There comes a tiem when kicking an opponent when they're down is just waste of energy.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
rickthaluddite
What noisy cats are we
09:15 PM on 11/16/2011
It is a waste of energy because this petty showmanship, "ooh, look at us we have a majority government and you can all suck it," is not going to play well at the voting booth next time around when Flaherty has still failed to deliver a balanced budget and $50 million in Parry Sound and Muskoka is still on full focus.
01:08 PM on 12/15/2011
Lets not forget that last election we somehow missed the fact that our precious conservatives were in contempt of the legal process and we voted them back in eh?
Are we going to keep complaining like good little Canucks or are we going to boot them out where they belong?
Just remember if they get in again it will PROVE that Canadians could care less who's in power as long as we get the odd laugh about it. Hey the joke's on us.
03:53 PM on 11/16/2011
Buyer's remorse? I don't like to say I told you so but...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
rickthaluddite
What noisy cats are we
09:24 PM on 11/16/2011
Fanned. I do like to say, "I told you so." I told all my friends who voted Conservative they would regret it. The Good thing is we can vote these dinosaurs back to nowhere in three and a half years.
cdnman
Still a free spirit...
02:31 PM on 11/16/2011
test
02:25 PM on 11/16/2011
It will mostly likely only continue to drop. The CPC governed like they had a majority when they had a minority. Now they govern like tyrants when they have a majority. The Canadian people are not stupid, they can see the hubris with which Harper is running the country.
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sunnyokanagan
Increase compassion. Decrease suffering
08:54 PM on 11/16/2011
Judging by the widespread hatred shown to, and complete inability to understand the Occupy movement all over the country, I'd be hesitant to say "The Canadian people are not stupid" too loudly. How do you think Herr Harper got into power in the first place?
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Add In Canadia
Egotism is a weakness
02:15 PM on 11/16/2011
*looks at watch* It's still going to be over 3 years before the next election. If it's politics as usual then it's going to be lowish poll numbers for another 2 years before the last year in where it's time to make the public feel all warm and fuzzy again.

Course maybe people liked a federal election each year?
01:45 PM on 11/16/2011
Har Harpo destroyed the long gun registry data yet?
01:44 PM on 11/16/2011
But of course, with Harper at the helm, and his fixed date elections (that didn't kick in UNTIL he finally got a majority), that election ISN'T going to happen "today". Unfortunately.

The teaser headline simply said: "BAD NEWS" and showed Harper's picture. So true. So true.
yer
Stop the Alberta Taliban
01:31 PM on 11/16/2011
why wait for the destruction to follow THEN try to get him out of office?

We can push for no confidence in Stevie but only if the CPC has a backbone to put in another PM. They don't. OWS should grow in Ottawa. There is a reason to protest. Crime bill, spending on warplanes, spending in general. Flathery is STILL the Finance minister? We can't make this up. Really hundreds of issues all because of Harper.

March on Ottawa would be ignored but would be a continual embarrassment to him. If it's not decency or grade 5 math skills, maybe the mirror of his public image is the only thing he would listen to.
03:35 PM on 11/16/2011
If the CPC is so horrible, why didn't the LPC and the NDP soundly defeat them?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Tyler Austin
Women = people. Corperations ≠ people.
05:12 PM on 11/16/2011
You can thank the first past the post/ single member plurality voting system for that.

If we used a run off system or a multi-member vote or a ranked order vote or a popular vote or a vote for the Senate (bascily every other system in the world except the one we use) the Conservatives would've only controled about 120 seats at best.
yer
Stop the Alberta Taliban
09:17 PM on 11/16/2011
anyway back to topic. It's called a vote split. You can apparently look up everything else, except this
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
stanschurman
01:06 PM on 11/16/2011
Not to worry Stevie. They could have run out of your favourite lipstick at the pharmacy or your Lafarge hair concrete at the building centre.