Liberals (36%, +2 Points) Ahead Of Conservatives (27%, -3 Points) By 9 Points Nationally

Toronto, ON - The latest Ipsos Reid poll conducted for CanWest News Service/Global News gives the Liberals (36%, +2 points from last week) a 9-point lead over the Conservatives (27%, -3 points) in the national polls -- a lead which apparently has been fuelled by a substantial shift in voter opinion in the crucial province of Ontario where the Liberals (47%, +6 points) have sprung out to an impressive 19-point lead on the Conservatives (28%, -6 points).

Meanwhile, 17% of voters say they would cast their ballot for the NDP (+1 point), and 5% would vote for the Green Party (unchanged). In Quebec, the Bloc Quebecois has 56% of federal support (+1 point) versus 25% for the federal Liberals (-1 point).

Further, Canadians offer rather tepid reviews of the Conservatives recent election television advertising campaign. Among those who have seen the Conservative Party TV ads, most (58%) say that the ads have had no impact on them as to whether or not they are going to vote Conservative, a further 25% say the ads have made them "less likely" to vote Conservative. However, one in seven (15%) feel the ads will make them "more likely" to vote Conservative.

When those who say they do not plan to vote for Stephen Harper and the Conservatives (those who plan to vote for Liberals, NDP, Bloc Quebecois, or Green Party) are asked why:

• 26% say "because they don't like Stephen Harper the Conservative leader";
• 48% say "because of the policies of the Conservative Party"; while
• 22% have some other reason for not voting for the Conservative Party.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted for CanWest News Service/Global News and fielded from December 9th to December 11th 2005. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians were interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the aggregate results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 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 each sub-grouping of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data. Please open the attached PDF to view the factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

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