Federal Political Scene Late May 2000

At 52%, Healthcare Remains The Top Issue On Canadians' Minds

Toronto, Ontario -- The results of a recent Angus Reid/Globe and Mail/CTV poll reveal that the Federal Liberals continue to have strong support among Canadians. If an election were held tomorrow, 47 percent of decided voters would support the Liberals. The Canadian Alliance comes a distant second place with 18 percent support among decided voters across Canada but in Ontario, trails the Tories by three points (19% - PC, 16% - Canadian Alliance). Healthcare (52%) remains the top issue on Canadians' minds.

These are the findings of an Angus Reid/Globe and Mail/CTV poll conducted between May 18th and May 25th, 2000. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,516 adult Canadians. The results are accurate to within 177 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire 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 Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

Liberal Support (47%) Remains Largely Unchanged Since January 1998, Canadian Alliance A Distant Second With 18% Support While Tories Place Third At 14% Among Decided Voters Across Canada

If a federal election were held tomorrow, the Liberals would receive 47 percent support among decided voters. The percentage support for each party is listed below:

• Liberals - 47%
• Canadian Alliance - 18%
• PC - 14%
• NDP - 10%
• BQ - 10%
• Other - 2%

Ontario (53%) and Atlantic Canada (52%) continue to be the Liberals' stronghold, however, they also receive strong support in Quebec (48%). Their lowest support comes from Alberta (25%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (39%). Support for the Liberal party has remained largely unchanged since January 1998 and is currently 10 points higher than the 38 percent support they received in the June 1997 Federal election.

At 18 percent, the Canadian Alliance places a distant second in overall support among decided voters. Support for the Canadian Alliance remains Western based, with the highest support in Alberta (50%) and B.C. (33%). In the important electoral battleground of Ontario, the Canadian Alliance receives 16 percent support and trails the P.C.s (19%) by three points. However, since the entry of Tom Long into the leadership race there is directional evidence that support in this province is on the rise. Overall, since tracking of support for the Canadian Alliance began in April 2000, their level of support among Canadians has remained relatively constant with just under one in five decided voters supporting the Canadian Alliance.

Canadian Alliance:

• Early April 2000 - 19%
• Late April 2000 - 17%
• Early May 2000 - 17%
• Late May 2000 - 18%

At 52%, Healthcare Remains The Top Issue On Canadians' Minds

For Canadians, Healthcare (52%) tops the list of issues which they feel should receive the greatest attention from Canada's leaders. This is down seven points since March 2000 when almost six in ten (59%) said healthcare should receive the greatest attention. The top issues on Canadians' minds are:

• Healthcare - 52%
• Education/Schools - 23%
• Taxes - 16%
• Deficit/Debt/Government Spending - 12%
• Jobs/Unemployment - 12%
• Economy (general) - 12%
• National Unity - 12%

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Darrell Bricker
President and COO
Public Affairs
Angus Reid Group
(416) 324-2900