Trudeau Liberals Takes Lead In Polls As NDP Support Shifts Back To The Middle

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OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau’sLiberals have opened up a sixpointlead over theConservatives, even though theRCMP’s stunning allegationsabout the Senate scandal did notcause sudden major damage toTory support, a new poll finds.There is little to brighten thebleak period Prime MinisterStephen Harper’s governingparty is suffering: TheConservatives are down just onepercentage point, but still, that istheir lowest level of supportsince the 2011 election. The surveyalso indicates oppositionmay be consolidating under theLiberal banner, reported theGlobe and Mail newspaper.The Ipsos-CTV poll conductedthis week shows the Liberals at35 per cent, the Conservatives at29 per cent, and the NDP at 26per cent.The most notable change from amonth ago is among the oppositionparties – and it suggestsCanadians who dislike Harperare shifting to the Liberalsrather than to Thomas Mulcair’sNDP.An October Ipsos poll foundthe two opposition parties statisticallytied, with the Liberalsat 31 and the New Democrats at30. Now the Liberals are ninepercentage points ahead of theNew Democrats.Darrell Bricker, chief executiveofficer of Ipsos Global PublicAffairs, said the survey indicatesthat voters most committed todislodging Mr. Harper are moresupportive of the Liberals, suggesting“those who feel moststrongly are consolidating undera single option.” That is goodnews for Mr. Trudeau’s party –and bad news for both the NDPand Conservatives.The poll was conducted over aperiod when the Liberals weregaining credit for performingwell in Monday’s four by-elections,almost stealing aConservative Manitoba stronghold,Brandon-Souris.rudeau won the Liberal leadershipseven months ago. TheNDP will hope his extendedhoneymoon is only temporary,and that their own overallnational support remains strongenough that they are competitive.But the NDP will not like thesnapshot in this poll. In Ontario,Quebec, and B.C., the threebiggest provinces, the Liberalsnow hold a significant lead.The Ipsos poll surveyed 1,014people online, and is consideredaccurate to within 3.5 percentagepoints.