Prorogation hammers Conservative support in polls

[daleo]

Voter support for the Conservative government has dropped sharply in the wake of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to shut down Parliament.

A poll released Wednesday by The Strategic Counsel shows the Conservatives with 31 per cent support, a full 10 points down from October, when the firm last surveyed Canadians.

The Liberal Party is at 30 per cent, which essentially has them tied with the Tories, given the poll’s margin of error of 2.3 per cent. They were at 28 per cent in October. The NDP is at 18 per cent, up four points, and the Greens are holding steady at 10 per cent.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/prorogation-hammers-conservative-support-in-polls/article1430143/

[HeresyLives]

1. Good, I hope a lot more hammering

will occur so it finally gets through to Harper that he is a PM, not a King.

[JBoy]

2. I'm actually impressed with the media's tenacity on this story.

Usually by now they've moved on to something else.

[Spazito]

3. I suspected his numbers would drop once Canadians took the time...

to understand how undemocratic Harper and his cabal's actions were in the prorogation of Parliament. The earlier polls were taken too early to really gauge Canadians' response to this as it had just happened. Harper's numbers will continue to fall the longer the cabal sticks to their ludicrous, ever-changing excuses for the 'lock-out' of democracy.

[daleo]

4. I think that Harper will lean heavily on the Haiti tragedy now

To change the channel.

Naturally Haiti is a great tragedy, and Canada should expend great efforts to help them cope with the aftermath of the earthquake. But the case will be made that objecting to prorogation now somehow diminishes concern for Haiti.

I have already seen some of this on the Globe's responses to stories (from "blogging Tories", so to speak). We will see if this gets picked up as a wider meme.

[Spazito]

5. The Libs have already pointed out that had Parliament not been suspended...

it could meet to pass measurements that would allow the government to set up a funding arrangement that would encourage Canadians to donate by matching their donations up to a set amount. Without the agreement of Parliament, it can't be done.

I thought that was a very good point.

Harper has to walk a VERY fine line so as not to be seen as using this tragedy as yet another red herring PR attempt, imo.

[daleo]

6. Here's an example of the spin I was talking about

It's a response to a poll analysis on Kady O'Malley's CBC blog:


http://www.cbc.ca/politics/insidepolitics/2010/01/ekos-sidebar-but-what-about-the-direction-of-the-government-question.html

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Wow

How small of you Kady. You are fretting over poll numbers when our fellow human beings in Haiti are in crisis? How do you sleep at night??
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As for the matching donations, according to the CBC report today the federal government is going ahead with this. I don't know what the legalities of the matter are, in terms of the need for Parliament to pass legislation for this:

Ottawa matching Canadians' Haiti donations

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/01/14/haiti-canada-aid.html

[HeresyLives]

7. Cons will use anything for partisanship.

I noticed the 'matching donations' thing as well, but don't know how legal it is. Suffice it to say Canadians aren't likely to object to that part of it.

[daleo]

8. Yes, people will likely agree to very substantial aid in this case

Whether it is of the matching donations variety or just regular government to government foreign aid. Given the current circumstances, I don't see anyone challenging the legality of it. The matter may eventually be raised, but not in the early stages of the crisis. Certainly Liberal and NDP supporters are not likely to want to stint on aid or to be seen as obstructing it.

[Spazito]

9. Yep, I read about the 'matching funds' announcement this morning...

I might have misunderstood Ralph Goodale's comments in the video clip I watched, the one posted in the "Who's Tom Flanagan" thread. He referred to the matching funds being done through Parliament but he may simply have meant it would be the preferred way as opposed to the only legal way.

I am glad, regardless of how it is done, to see the matching funds announcement, it should help generate more donations although, from the Canadian Red Cross, it looks like we (Canadians) have already stepped up to the plate before the announcement.