Tories (37%) Maintain Lead over Grits (30%)

Ottawa, ON - In a week where the Conservative government delivered its budget, a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted exclusively on behalf of CanWest News Service and Global Television reveals that the Conservatives are maintaining their lead over the Liberal Party.

The Conservatives under Prime Minister Stephen Harper have the support of 37% of decided voters (up 1 point), while the Liberals under Stephan Dion are being supported by 30% of decided voters (up 1 point). Jack Layton's NDP has 14% support (up 1 point), while the Green Party is being backed by 10% of decided voters (up 1 point).

Within Quebec, the Bloc has the support of 35% of Quebecers, while the Liberals hold steady at 24%. The Conservatives are not far behind at 23% support while the NDP (10%) and Green Party (7%) trail behind.

In vote-rich Ontario, the Grits (37%) and Tories (36%) are in a dead heat. The NDP have 15% from among decided-voters, and the Green Party is at 11% support.

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of CanWest News Service and Global Television from February 22 to February 24, 2008. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1008 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.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Dr. Darrell Bricker
President & COO
Ipsos Reid
Public Affairs
416-509-8460
[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.

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