The Province

Gap between Liberals, NDP shrinks slightly in poll

- STEPHANIE IP sip@postmedia.com twitter.com/stephanie_ip

There has been very little change in support for each of B.C.’s political parties, according to the most recent poll numbers.

The B.C. NDP — which held a slight lead over the governing Liberals in late February — fell one point to 29 per cent in the latest Mainstreet/Postmedia poll, released Thursday. Support for Premier Christy Clark’s Liberals grew to 26 per cent, up one point from last month’s poll.

The Green party continued a downward trend, losing another point to land at 10 per cent, compared to 11 per cent in late February, and 12 per cent in mid February. Support for the Conservati­ves remain unchanged at 10 per cent, compared to late February’s numbers.

Undecided voters grew from 24 to 25 per cent.

“What’s clear from our tracking so far is that a large amount of voters are still undecided, making it tough to come to any conclusion­s on what election outcome we could expect today,” said Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research.

“What we do know is that the NDP is performing well, but their vote is less solid than that of the Liberals.”

The poll results were taken from a random sample of 2,191 eligible B.C. voters on March 4 and 5. The margin of error is 2.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The poll also canvassed respondent­s for their thoughts on disability, welfare, and minimum wage.

Disability

Income assistance for those with disabiliti­es had been frozen for the past decade and increased slightly this year and last under the Liberals. However, NDP critics cast the $50 a month increase as the Liberals giving back what they had taken away last year in what critics called a transit-pass clawback.

According to the poll, 75 per cent of respondent­s say assistance should be increased, while 13 per cent felt assistance should be frozen. Just four per cent felt income assistance should drop.

Welfare

While the Liberal budget released last month included increases to disability payments, there was nothing for social assistance. The welfare rate in B.C., which has been $610 a month for the last decade, is the third lowest among all provinces, and B.C. is the only province without a poverty reduction plan.

Income assistance has widespread support among eligible B.C. voters, though it’s not seen quite as favourably as income assistance for those with disabiliti­es. Just over half of British Columbians (57 per cent) support income assistance, while 25 per cent oppose increases. Another 18 per cent remained unsure.

Minimum wage

Under the B.C. Liberals, the province’s minimum wage was increased to $10.85 an hour in September, and will increase $11.35 this fall. Liquor servers will also have their hourly minimum raised to $10.10 this September. Those wages, however, are still far off from the $15-an-hour wage many advocates push for.

More than half of B.C. voters (55 per cent) support an increase to $15, while 35 per cent oppose another increase. A remaining 10 per cent reported being unsure of whether or not to increase the minimum wage.

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