Poll suggests Tories hold solid support as Manitoba election approaches

The latest Mainstreet poll suggests Manitoba's Progressive Conservatives are pulling ahead in decided voter support.

The poll suggests support for the PCs was at 45 per cent, with the Liberals at 24 per cent, the NDP at 23 per cent and the Green Party at seven per cent. The poll surveyed a random sample of 1,860 Manitoba residents through landlines and cellphones on March 29.

If the PCs can hold on to these numbers, the NDP and Liberals will find themselves virtually wiped out.- Quito Maggi, Mainstreet Research

Support is being split by the NDP and Liberals, allowing the Conservatives to pull ahead, the poll suggests.

In Winnipeg, 40 per cent of decided or leaning voters supported the PCs, with the NDP at 27 per cent and the Liberals at 25.

"Following the Easter weekend, it's the PC Party that seems to have gained momentum," said Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research. "The PCs are now leading definitively in Winnipeg. While their level of support has dropped outside Winnipeg, they hold such a large lead it almost doesn't matter.

"If the PCs can hold on to these numbers, the NDP and Liberals will find themselves virtually wiped out."

NDP Leader Greg Selinger said his party is more focussed on the campaign than polls.

"Polls are going to come, polls are going to go," he said. "It's all about making sure we stay focused on the priorities of Manitobans, working hard at the community level [so] our candidates are out there knocking on doors every day, talking to people.

"We want to provide Manitobans with good policy choices, and then Manitobans will make their decision about who will do the best for them in the next four years."

The Mainstreet poll also suggests the number of undecided voters is shrinking as the April 19 election approaches.

A probabilistic sample of this size would yield a margin of error of plus or minus 2.27 per cent, 19 times out of 20.