With Liberal "Hail Mary" on Healthcare in Final Quarter of Campaign, Poll Finds Liberals Least Trusted on Healthcare

Toronto, ON - Heading into the final quarter of the campaign, Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals have thrown a "Hail Mary" pass, touring with former Prime Minister Paul Martin and trumpeting the Liberal position on healthcare, saying that the Tories would dismantle the current system and ruin Canada's coveted healthcare system.

But a new Ipsos Reid poll of 6,262 likely voters, conducted exclusively for Global Television, has revealed that when it comes to the party and leader they trust most to manage healthcare in Canada, the Liberal "Hail Mary" pass is headed for the stands. In fact, Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals come last among the national parties with only 20% indicating that they most trust the Liberals to manage healthcare in Canada. Three in ten (30%) trust Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party most to manage healthcare in Canada, while Jack Layton and the NDP (46%) are by a significant margin the most trusted on this file. Four percent (4%) of Canadians (16% of Quebecers) most trust Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc Quebecois to manage healthcare in Canada.

In fact, only 62% of current Liberal supporters most trust Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals on healthcare, suggesting that Michael Ignatieff is having a hard time convincing many of his own supporters that he's best to manage this delicate issue. More Conservative supporters trust their party the most on healthcare (80%), while NDP (90%) supporters are the most trustworthy of their own party to manage healthcare. Moreover, supporters of the Bloc Quebecois are just as likely to most trust Jack Layton and the NDP (46%) on healthcare as the party they currently support (45%).

In 2004 the federal and provincial governments agreed on a health care accord that determined how much the federal government would contribute to the provincial health care systems. This agreement is set to expire in 2014. While Michael Ignatieff has been touring the country trying to convince Canadians that he's the man to be entering into these negotiations, once again Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals (22%) are the least trusted national party, significantly behind both Stephen Harper and the Conservatives (32%), and Jack Layton and the NDP (41%). Five percent (5%) of Canadians (19% of Quebecers) most trust Gilles Duceppe and the Bloc to re-negotiate the health accord with the provinces.

Harper's Handling of the Guergis Affair...

One issue that appears to be dogging Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the case of former Conservative MP and Cabinet Minister Helena Guergis. Ms. Guergis was expelled from the Conservative caucus by Stephen Harper last year as a result of allegations of fraud, extortion, misuse of government resources, and other allegations linked to her husband, former MP Rahim Jaffer. She maintains her innocence, states that there is no proof of these allegations against her, and says that she wasn't given a fair chance to defend herself and she doesn't know why she was kicked out of the Conservative Party. Further, the RCMP has cleared her of any wrong-doing.

Thinking about how Conservative leader Stephen Harper handled the situation, one half (49%) of voters `disapprove' (31% strongly/18% somewhat) with the way Stephen Harper handled this, while just three in ten (30%) `approve' (13% strongly/18% somewhat). Two in ten (21%) don't know enough about the issue to pass judgement.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted exclusively for Global Television on April 19-20, 2011. The poll was conducted among 6,262 adult Canadians who say they are most likely to vote in the Election on May 2nd. Respondents were selected via the Ipsos I-Say Online Panel, Ipsos Reid's national online panel. The sample was drawn from a pre-recruited panel of over 11,246 Canadians who indicate that they are likely to vote on Election Day. Weighting then was employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the population of Canadian adults according to the latest Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. However, an unweighted probability sample of this size, with a 100% response rate, would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 1.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire adult population of voters in Canada been polled.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Darrell Bricker
CEO
Ipsos Public Affairs
(416) 324-2001
[email protected]

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