Alliance Leadership

Toronto, ON - The results of a new Globe and Mail/CTV/Ipsos-Reid poll show that two-thirds (63%) of Canadians say that embattled Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day should resign his job as party leader, while one-quarter (25%) say that Mr. Day should stay on and fight for his job. Support for Day's resignation has increased 13 percentage points among Canadians since May 2001 (63% versus 50%). And, among decided Alliance voters' calls for Mr. Day to resign have risen 17 percentage points over same period, from 28% to 45%. Canadian Alliance voters are now divided, with only half (48%) saying the party leader should stay on and fight for his job.

These are some of the findings of a Globe and Mail/CTV/Ipsos-Reid poll conducted between July 11th and July 12th, 2001. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual adult Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

Canadian Alliance Voters Are Split -- Half (45%) Say Stockwell Day Should Resign, While Half (48%) Say Stay On

With just 25% support among Canadians to stay on and fight for his job as Canadian Alliance leader, Stockwell Day faces a divided Alliance decided voter base. Two-thirds (63%) of Canadians say that Mr. Day should resign as party leader, while half (45%) of decided Alliance voters agree. Only half (48%) of decided Alliance voters think that the party's leader should stay on and fight for his job as leader. Seven in ten Liberal (71%) and PC (70%) decided voters, say that Stockwell Day should resign.

• Canadians aged 35 and older (67%) are more likely than 18 to 34 year olds (57%) to say that Stockwell Day should resign his job as party leader.
• Middle and upper income Canadians, with household incomes between $30k and $59k, (69%) or $60k+ (67%), are more likely to say the party leader should resign than low income Canadians, living in households earning less than $30k (56%).
• Highest support for Stockwell Day to stay on as leader is in Alberta at 33%.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Darrell Bricker
President & COO
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900