Most Canadians (81%) Want Current Government To Last At Least A Year

Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of CanWest News Service/Global News reports that a majority (81%) of Canadians indicate that they want the current government to last at least another year. Specifically, when asked when they feel the government should be defeated:

• Six percent say as "as soon as possible";
• 10% say "sometime in the next six months"
• 23% say "not for another twelve months";
• 22% say "not for another two years"; and
• 36% say "not until their term runs out in about four years from now".

But when it comes to the five priorities the Conservatives have said they will deliver on for Canadians, half feel that if they don't "clean up government by passing the federal accountability act" (53%), "work with the provinces to establish Patient Wait Times Guarantee" (51%), and "make our streets and communities safe by cracking down on crime" (50%), the opposition should force an election.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted for CanWest News Service/Global News and fielded from March 28-30th, 2006. For this survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1000 adult Canadians was 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 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