Scare tactics still a winning strategy for Grits, Tories

VANCOUVER—It has been an eventful campaign so far, but the question now is, where will this all take us? Both Jagmeet Singh and Yves-François Blanchet have made big personal breakthroughs. Singh, in particular, is building capital, not just within NDP partisans but among other parties’ supporters as well. As a result, more voters are considering […]
Conservative gains in Ontario before campaign due to ‘Ford being quiet,’ but pollster says Trudeau’s attacks may not be working

Many Liberal candidates say Ontario Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford’s unpopularity is still a significant issue at the doors more than halfway through the election campaign, with some political strategists saying that voters who backed Mr. Ford in 2018 are upset with the Ontario government’s record one year in, and may now look to back […]
Plurality of voters approves of Trudeau’s handling of blackface controversy: poll

The Liberals have made it through the blackface controversy with their lead intact. There is no significant change in Liberal support at the national or regional level. There are also no major changes in Trudeau’s “favourables,” and his lead on “best prime minister” is marginally stronger. Yet, while the national story is good for the […]
Time reporter Kambhampaty says she learned of Trudeau’s brownface use from ‘gossip’ among Vancouver school’s community

The U.S.-based Time Magazine reporter who broke the story about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wearing brownface at an Arabian Nights-themed party in Vancouver says she learned about the existence of the picture from ongoing gossip among the Westpoint Grey Academy community. “I had heard about it as a source of gossip in Vancouver community and, […]
If voters see a common theme, Trudeau’s blackface controversy will change the campaign: Greg Lyle

VANCOUVER—It is true that campaigns matter—just ask former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith. It is also true that most campaign controversies, even ones as juicy as the Trudeau Blackface controversy, ultimately have only a limited impact on the election result. Paul Simon told us why when 50 years ago he sang, “Still a man hears what […]
More parties, more polls, and voter ‘malaise’: tracking 2019 trickier, pollsters say

With more parties in the mix, voter ‘malaise,’ and a tight race among the top-two, pollsters are bringing new approaches to 2019 as they try to keep up with trends during a breakneck 40-day campaign they say will be more challenging than the last one. With six parties to consider and the Liberals and Conservatives […]
‘Choose your poison’: that’s the ballot question for most Canadians in Oct. 21 federal election, says pollster Nanos

None of the national parties appears to be connecting to a majority of Canadians and a leading pollster is predicting the ballot question will be “choose your poison” on Oct. 21. “A lot of this has to do with the fact that people are unhappy with both of the choices [Liberals and Conservatives],” said Nik […]
Passions, not reason, will determine the 2019 federal election

Emotions trump reason. This isn’t news to anyone who has read or heard about books such as Nudge and Thinking Fast and Slow. More and more people are coming to understand that emotions, not logic, drive our decision-making in all parts of life, including politics. So how do voters feel about the key parties and […]
Don’t worry, political ads still work

OAKVILLE, ONT.—A poll came out recently which, if taken at face value, would be bad news for all the good people in this country who write political advertisements for a living. The poll in question, conducted by Forum Research, asked Canadians if any of the political advertisements they’d seen over the past month had an […]
Liberals, Tories in dead heat just before ethics report released: poll

The Conservatives were even with the governing Liberals in support among Canadians in the days leading up to the release of Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion’s report that found Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had broken the Conflict of Interest Act for a second time, suggests a Campaign Research poll. The online poll asked 2,365 adults the […]