Christy Clark and the BC Liberals are running the most negative provincial election campaign of all four major parties, according to new figures released today.
The Ipsos Reid poll asked British Columbians which of the parties they believed was running the most positive and the most negative campaigns. Forty-two per cent considered Adrian Dix and the NDP to be running the most positive campaign, with only 15 per cent picking Clark and the Liberals.
A resounding 81 per cent of NDP supporters said their party was the most positive, while only 48 per cent of Liberal supporters said the most positive campaign was coming from their Clark-led camp.
Asked who they considered to be running the most negative campaign, 52 per cent of respondents picked Clark and the Liberals, with only 13 per cent choosing Dix and the NDP.
NDP supporters overwhelmingly (79 per cent) considered the Liberal campaign the most negative, while Liberal supporters were split, with 30 per cent voting the NDP most negative, 19 per cent, their own party, and ten per cent choosing the BC Conservatives and John Cummins.
The figures follow a wave of criticism of Clark's campaign. Writing in the National Post, Brian Hutchinson said that "instead of treading carefully, taking pains to ensure that whatever she presents during the election campaign is airtight, verifiable and the plain honest truth, Clark continues to misinform, mislead and just make up stuff."
In the Toronto Star, Thomas Walkom noted that Clark is in big trouble, "and could suffer the ultimate indignity of losing her seat," a thought echoed by Jeff Lee in The Vancouver Sun who said that within Clark's tony Point-Grey riding, "tongues [were] wagging about whether the riding could once again elect a labour-based candidate."
In another boost for the NDP, a second poll conducted by Ipsos Reid showed support for selling off BC Place – a campaign announcement made Wednesday by Adrian Dix, and also part of the B.C. Conservatives’ platform.
Forty percent of those polled supported the idea of selling off the debt-ridden stadium, with 32 per cent opposed, and 28 per cent undecided.
The survey contacted 475 adult British Columbians and was conducted online between April 24 and 25, 2013. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100 per cent response rate would have an estimated margin of error of ±4.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
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