By Canadian Press

Front-runners deadlocked after campaign week 1, but small signs favour Liberals

Sep 18, 2019 | 2:34 AM

OTTAWA — A new poll suggests the opening week of the federal campaign did little to change the dynamic of the race to the Oct. 21 election.

Respondents to the Leger poll, conducted Sept. 13-17 for The Canadian Press, put the Liberals and Conservatives in a virtual tie, with support for the governing party unchanged at 34 per cent and the Tories down two points to 33 per cent.

The NDP and Greens continued in a dead heat for a distant third place, with 12 and 11 per cent respectively, unchanged from the Leger poll conducted just prior to last Wednesday’s official start of the campaign.

However, the new poll detected a number of small shifts which cumulatively suggest there was a bit of an uptick in Liberal fortunes, including a decrease in the appetite for a change in government.

On the question of who would make the best prime minister, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was up two points to 27 per cent, while Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was down one point to 22 per cent.

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The poll surveyed 1,598 eligible voters selected from Leger’s online panel; internet-based surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because online polls are not considered random samples.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2019.

The Canadian Press