Canadians not keen on any of leaders

Dissatisfaction with Harper, Dion, Layton widespread: pollster

by Mike Blanchfield; Thursday, September 18, 2008 - Canwest News Service
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=fc7d5...

Stephen Harper is a George W. Bush clone with a hidden agenda. Jack Layton is not the champion of the average "kitchen table" Canadian. Stéphane Dion is not a team player and is wrong on the environment and economy.

Those are the findings of a new poll that shows widespread dissatisfaction and disillusionment with Canada's three national party leaders currently vying for the job of prime minister in the federal election.

"There isn't a lot of passion in this campaign right now," concluded Ipsos Reid pollster Darrell Bricker, who asked Canadians whether they were buying into the core campaign messages put forth by each of the major party leaders.

The implication of all this, he said, is a third consecutive minority Parliament -- not the Conservative majority that Mr. Harper is seeking.

"People do think the direction (Mr. Harper) would take the country if he was unfettered from a minority government is something that they wouldn't like to see, more in line with what George Bush might do if he was elected prime minister."

Half of those surveyed agreed with the notion that giving Mr. Harper a majority would be like electing Mr. Bush as prime minister. Another 50 per cent agreed that Mr. Harper had a "hidden agenda," compared with 36 per cent who did not.

On the core theme of the Harper campaign -- that he would provide "steady leadership in tough economic times" -- 52 per cent rejected that notion, while 35 per cent agreed.

Respondents kicked the legs out from under Mr. Layton's core pitch to voters that he is the leader who "will act on the priorities at the kitchen table instead of the boardroom table," with 45 per cent disagreeing versus 35 per cent who agreed.

Mr. Bricker said that finding shows Mr. Layton's personal popularity -- a previous Ipsos Reid poll had him as Canadians' second choice for prime minister after Mr. Harper -- doesn't stand up to deeper questioning. "When we start talking about things like issues he wants to talk about, I don't know that he has credibility."

Mr. Dion's core theme -- that his Green Shift plan makes him the most credible candidate on the environment and the economy -- was rejected by 55 per cent, compared with only 30 per cent that accepted it.

But if a shred of silver lining exists in these new numbers, it would be for Mr. Dion, said Mr. Bricker.

That's because only 48 per cent agree with the notion that electing Mr. Dion and the Liberals would be "too big a risk" for Canadians.

"That means there's another 52 per cent who think that's not a problem. It shows that he's capable of being in the game," said Mr. Bricker.

In Ontario, half of those polled accept the Harper-as-Bush premise, while only 32 per cent agree the prime minister represents the steadiest hand in tough economic times. At the same time, 42 per cent believe Mr. Dion is too big a risk. About 37 per cent of Ontarians support the Liberal leader as a "true team player" who has the right ideas on the economy and the environment.

The Sept. 9-11 on-line survey of 1,016 respondents is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2008