Ontario McGuinty Liberals (46%) Lead Idle
PCs (31%), New-Leader NDP (13%), Green (10%)

Toronto, ON - As four contenders battle it out for the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of Canwest News Service and Global Television indicates that whoever is elected as the new leader on June 25th will have their work cut out for them. The poll comes in the wake of the provinces March 27, 2009 budget and some controversy that has swirled about the proposed harmonizing of the federal and provincial sales taxes.

The Liberal Party under Dalton McGuinty leads with 46% of support among decided voters (up 1 point) compared to the Progressive Conservative Party under interim leader Bob Runciman, which has actually risen in the party standings to 31% (up 2 points) with the effective departure of its previous beleaguered leader, John Tory.

The polling debut of newly-elected NDP leader Andrea Horwath is auspicious in its own right: the party would receive just 13% of the vote (down 3 points) and is at its lowest level since August/September of 2003 when it was supported by just 12% of decided Ontario voters.

The Green Party would garner 10% support among decided voters (unchanged) and a mere five percent (5%) of voters are undecided.

As for how the Government is perceived among voters for its economic initiatives and activities to deal with the recession-battered province, a set of companion polling questions reveal that following a red-ink drenched stimulus budget, one half (51%) of Ontarians give the provincial government either `very good - an A or better' (3%) or `somewhat good - B or C' (48%) marks for their initiatives. Another half (49%) give them `somewhat bad - D' (33%) or `very bad - F for fail' (16%) grades.

And in a province where 43% of the decided vote yields a healthy majority government, the good news for the McGuinty Liberals is that a full majority (54%) of Ontarians believe their provincial government by way of its economic initiatives and activities has the provincial economy on the `right track' (4% very/50% somewhat) compared to a minority (46%) who believe their provincial government has the economy on the `wrong track' (15% very/31% somewhat).

For now, it's the `off season' with a PC Leader yet to be chosen and a barely-known new NDP leader at the helm.

And as the province churns through stormy economic seas and huge deficit undercurrents, the fall return of the legislature and the months that follow, under new leadership and fresh MPPs back from constituencies and a better focus on the issues of the day, will be a better gauge of what real political choices will emerge for voters in the future.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted exclusively for Canwest News Service and Global Television from April 21 to 23, 2009. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 800 adults living in Ontario was interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population living in Ontario 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 Ontarian population according to Census data. The data regarding the economic initiative grades was conducted from March 30 to April 6, 2009. This online survey of 764 Ontarian adults was conducted via the Ipsos I-Say Online Panel, Ipsos Reid's national online panel.

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

About Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

About Ipsos
Ipsos is a leading global survey-based market research company, owned and managed by research professionals. Ipsos helps interpret, simulate, and anticipate the needs and responses of consumers, customers, and citizens around the world.

Member companies assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media. They measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos member companies offer expertise in advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, and public affairs research, as well as forecasting, modeling, and consulting. Ipsos has a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, panel, and online research products and services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies. The company was founded in 1975 and has been publicly traded since 1999.

In 2008, Ipsos generated global revenues of e979.3 million ($1.34 billion U.S.).

Visit www.ipsos.com to learn more about Ipsos offerings and capabilities.

Ipsos, listed on the Eurolist of Euronext - Comp B, is part of SBF 120 and the Mid-100 Index, adheres to the Next Prime segment and is eligible to the Deferred Settlement System. Isin FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP