Pollsters split on poll aggregators’ use of data, but do caution ‘buyer beware’ for the public

Several Canadian pollsters are divided on whether poll aggregators can repurpose their data without consent, though some are concerned with how all the numbers get packaged for public consumption. The work of poll aggregators has come under renewed scrutiny after veteran pollster Nik Nanos of Nanos Research recently got into a Twitter scrap with CBC’s […]
Women splitting their vote more among various progressive options, says Bricker

A recent Ipsos poll showed Conservatives with a 10-point lead over the Liberals among female voters, 39 per cent to 29 per cent, respectively, but Ipsos CEO Darrell Bricker cautions against viewing this as a female surge towards Conservatives. “The Conservatives are not surging among women. What’s happening is that women are splitting their vote […]
Contradictory polls ‘perfectly predictable,’ reflect volatility among voters, say pollsters

Contradictory poll results this far out from the election reflect the undecided population and, unlike the results themselves, are “perfectly predictable,” say some pollsters, but others say the recent variations raise important questions about transparency, standards, and reporting. So far, horse-race polls reveal a tight two-way race between the Conservatives and Liberals, but how tight […]
Majority of Canadians may support TMX, but the project remains an electoral risk for Liberals: pollsters

Recent polls may indicate a majority of Canadians support the government’s plowing ahead with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, but with further opposition actions expected, experts say the best Liberals can likely hope for is to not lose too many progressive voters. “It’s very unlikely that it’s going to help them win support anywhere […]
Conservatives and Scheer falling behind in Ontario, suggests Campaign Research poll

The Liberal Party has gained an advantage of seven percentage points over the federal Conservatives in the province of Ontario, according to a recent online poll by Campaign Research, reversing the lead the official opposition had in the province from last month, and helping the Grits to take their first lead over the Tories nationwide—by […]
Ford’s Ontario cuts, drop in SNC-Lavalin media coverage, return of female support helping Libs, but it’s still a ‘coin toss,’ say pollsters

After weeks of attracting low support in national public opinion polls, the Liberals are starting to bounce back chiefly because of Ontario Premier Doug Ford government’s controversial cuts in social services, the dissipation of media coverage on SNC-Lavalin affair, closer scrutiny of Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer and the return of women support back to the […]
Liberals’ public opinion research spending bump an electoral boost, says strategist

Public opinion research spending climbed to $15.3-million during the 2018-19 fiscal year, according to a report by Public Services and Procurement Canada. This brings an end to the Liberals’ two-year decline in spending since 2016, with spending this year topping 2017-18 costs by $3.4-million. According to Conservative strategist Dennis Matthews, a vice-president of marketing and […]
MPs should use the summer to prove everyone wrong
Federal politicians are the least liked out of all of their political brethren, or so says an Angus Reid Institute study published June 25. The public-opinion survey found that 28 per cent say they have a negative opinion of people who choose to run for federal office compared to 19 per cent and 14 per […]
Trudeau’s legislative record unlikely to motivate voters in the fall, with a few exceptions: pollsters

Four years of lawmaking has left the Liberal government with a lengthy list of accomplishments and black marks, but only a few legal changes made or abandoned by the Trudeau government will likely play a significant role at the ballot box this October, say political observers. “There’s an old saying in politics: ‘Friends come and […]
Pollsters expect ‘acrimonious, intensely fought’ federal election campaign, high-tech ‘black ops’ from domestic and foreign third parties

The next election campaign is shaping up to be one of the most “acrimonious, intensely fought,” and “unprecedented” runs in Canadian political history, involving populism and the use of “high-tech black ops through algorithms and social media” by domestic and foreign players, say pollsters. “[The most important aspects will be] the high-technology black ops, through […]