CANADA POLLS: TRUDEAU’S PARTY TRAILS MAIN OPPOSITION IN LATEST SURVEYS

TORONTO: Two weeks into a national election campaign for the September 20 snap polls, Canada’s ruling Liberal Party is for the first time trailing its principal opposition Conservative Party, led by its PM hopeful Erin O’Toole, in voter preference, according to a number of surveys.

Incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau precipitated snap elections on August 15 in an attempt to convert his minority government into a majority in the 338-seat House of Commons, but as things stand, the Liberals may actually capture fewer seats in the new parliament compared to 157 in 2019 Federal elections.

Poll trackers put the momentum with the Conservatives, showing a narrow advantage for them now, after trailing the Liberals for months.

The outlet CBC News’ stated, “For the first time in nearly 18 months, the Conservatives have moved ahead in voting intentions. The Liberals are still favoured to win most seats, but have been trending down as the Conservatives rise.”

At 32.5% support, the Conservatives have the slightest of leads over the Liberals, who are at 32.2%.

That status is confirmed by the tracker from the election modelling outlet 338 Canada, which puts the Conservatives at 32.8%, again just 0.3% ahead of the Liberals.

338 Canada’s founder Philippe J Fournier tweeted on Friday that “this election is now officially a toss-up”.

In tracking data released on Saturday, Nanos Research, in a poll for the outlets CTV News and Globe and Mail stated that “ballot support for the Conservatives sits at 33.3%, while the Liberals are at 30.8% support”.