Liberals' popularity rising in Atlantic Canada: CRA poll
Nearly 3/4 of those asked say they support the federal Liberals
In a region already uniformly painted red, the Liberal Party and its leader Justin Trudeau continue to rise in popularity throughout Atlantic Canada, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The poll, conducted by Corporate Research Associates, indicated 74 per cent of decided voters in the four provinces support the Liberals, up from 70 per cent three months ago. As well, 74 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with the Liberals' performance so far, up from 69 per cent in May 2016.
Comparatively, support for the Conservative Party remained unchanged, at 16 per cent of decided voters. Leader Rona Ambrose's popularity also stayed flat, at 11 per cent. Meanwhile, support for Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberals had a slight uptick to 65 per cent, compared to 61 per cent in May.
The Liberals swept to victory in every one of Atlantic Canada's 32 seats in the October 2015 federal election and have enjoyed popularity since, with Trudeau getting a celebrity's welcome during a brief August trip to the region.
That popularity remains intact despite recent criticism of changes to the selection process for Supreme Court justices, wherein the Liberals removed the requirement to have one justice on the bench specifically from Atlantic Canada.
According to the poll, support for the NDP dipped slightly to seven per cent, compared to 10 per cent in May, and preference for leader Thomas Mulcair also decreased from nine to six per cent.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May's popularity remained unchanged at five per cent, although overall the poll indicated only three percent support for the party, a dip of one per cent.
Wednesday's results are part of a quarterly survey of Atlantic Canadians conducted by the CRA, conducted on random landlines and cell phones. It sampled 1,507 people over the age of 18 from Aug. 8 to Aug 31, with results accurate to plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.