Most voters accepting of coalition government
Liberals, Tories still tied for voter support, survey says
Most Canadians support the idea of a coalition government if no party gains a majority in Parliament in the next federal election, according to a new Forum Research poll.
The Liberals and Conservatives remain virtually tied in public support, according to the same poll — a trend that has continued for the past five months.
The public opinion survey found 35 per cent support for the Liberals, and 33 per cent support for the Conser- vatives, a statistical tie given the poll’s margin of error. The New Democrats had 22 per cent support.
The poll says nearly 60 per cent of respondents support the idea of two or more parties forming a coalition government, if no party gains a majority of seats in October’s election.
“It appears that the idea of a coalition government isn’t the bogeyman to voters that the government would like us to believe,’’ said Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research. Most Canadians are familiar enough with the Westminster system of government that they’ll support some form of co-operative government in a minority situation, Bo- zinoff said, adding “one thing is clear — the coalition they are discussing is between the Liberals and the NDP, to supplant a Conservative minority.’’
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has been stickhandling around the idea of a coalition with the NDP if the Conservatives win a minority in October. Trudeau has said he’d “maybe, but maybe not’’ be open to a coalition with the NDP if Tom Mulcair wasn’t leader of the party.
Meanwhile, Mulcair has said he’s open to a coalition if it’s necessary to defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.
The Forum poll also presented respondents with five major issues facing the federal government right now — the budget, the environment, ethics and transparency in government, marijuana and war — and asked how much the issues influence their vote.
Nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) said ethics and transparency have a “great deal’’ of influence on their voting intentions. That finding comes amid the ongoing fraud trial of suspended Senator Mike Duffy.
The next most influential topic, according to the Forum poll is the budget, with 43 per cent of respondents saying it has a great deal of influence on their voting intentions.
The environment was next (42 per cent), followed by Canada’s missions against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, and the mission in Ukraine, with 30 per cent saying the topic has a “great deal’’ of influence on their voting intentions.
“For one thing, when the number one issue in a wartime election is ethics in government, that’s not a good sign for the government in question,” Bozinoff added.
The least influential issue on voting was legalized marijuana, the poll found. The Forum poll was conducted April 14 to 16, with the results based on an interactive voice response telephone survey of 1,365 Canadians, ages 18 and over. Results from the total sample are considered accurate plus or minus 3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.