Merger Rejected by Party Faithful in all Parties

Toronto, ON - Parliament Hill has been abuzz with talk of a merger between the Liberals and the NDP. Since the coalition government in the United Kingdom came to power, there has been a lot of media coverage surrounding the possibility of a merger, whether it be through a formal merger, a coalition in parliament, or an election agreement whereby the two parties would not run candidates in the same riding. Although both Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton have denied that talks have taken place, party insiders continue to insist that some sort of alliance is a possibility.

Whatever the shape of the merger, a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Canwest News Service and Global National reveals that a majority (56%) of Canadians think it's a `bad idea', while just three in ten (30%) think it's a `good idea' (30%). One in ten (14%) are unsure.

And it's clear that merger talk doesn't sit well with current party faithful: a majority (55%) of Liberals think it's a bad idea, compared to 37% who think it's is a good idea. For NDP supporters, half (49%) reject a merger while 44% support it. As for the Conservatives, only 15% of Tories think a merger is a good idea, while most (75%) think it's bad.

Despite the frenzy being caused by overrun costs on G-20 security spending and continued Liberal Leadership woes, the poll has revealed that the national party standings remain stagnant and still haven't changed much since the last federal election.

If an election were to be held tomorrow, the Conservatives under Prime Minister Stephen Harper would receive the support of 35% of decided voters (unchanged since last month), while the Liberals led by Michael Ignatieff would garner 27% of the overall vote (down 2 points). Jack Layton and the NDP would receive the support of 16% decided voters (unchanged), while the Green Party and Leader Elizabeth May would receive 11% of the vote (up 2 points). Nationally, the Bloc would receive 10% support, and 7% of all Canadians remain undecided.

In Quebec, the Bloc has a commanding lead at 45% support, while the Liberals are in second-place with 21% of the vote. The Conservatives appear to be dropping further behind with only 12% support, statistically tied with the NDP at 11% and the Green Party at 10%.

In Ontario, the Tories have backed off slightly, perhaps a result of backlash over the pending G-8 and G-20 summits to be held in Muskoka and Toronto. The Liberals (38%) enjoy a five-point lead over the Conservatives (33%), while the NDP (18%) and Green Party (11%) trail behind.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Canwest News Service and Global Television from June 8 to 10, 2010. For the survey, a representative randomly-selected sample of 1,009 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone. 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 population of Canada been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure that the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2002
[email protected]

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