As Canadians await today's English-language debate, a new Angus Reid poll finds many Liberal supporters not fully committed, even as the party of Mark Carney remains ahead of the federal Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, have more committed voters, but can ill-afford any wavering.
An Angus Reid poll published April 17 finds 63 per cent of Liberals "very committed" with 30 per cent describing themselves as "fairly committed." Federal Conservative voters, meanwhile, have higher commitment rates. About three out of four (76 per cent) told Angus Reid that they are 乌鸦传媒渧ery committed乌鸦传媒� with 18 per cent "fairly committed."
New Democrats under Leader Jagmeet Singh would be the "biggest beneficiary" of lapsing Liberal support as 45 per cent of uncommitted Liberal voters said the NDP would be their second choice. The Conservatives would be the second choice among 18 per cent of uncommitted Liberal voters.
According to Angus Reid, these figures mean the Liberals have an "impressive ceiling and a precarious floor" heading into the final week-and-a-half of the campaign.
"For the Conservatives, any faltering that causes uncommitted voters to leave would be devastating," the poll report reads. "The largest group of these soft voters (39 per cent) say they would vote for the Liberals if they changed their mind."
The poll 乌鸦传媒� which was conducted between April 10-13 乌鸦传媒� also points to a shift in the issues that matter most to voters. While tariffs and annexation threats from U.S. President Donald Trump have taken up what the polls calls a "significant amount of airspace" during the campaign, health care (38 per cent) has surpassed the tariff issue (29 per cent) to claim second place.
"Growing, too, is the proportion of those who say that the cost of living and inflation is among their top concerns," the report reads. Inflation and cost-of-living remains the most important issue with 56 per cent.
On the flip side, the number of surveyed Canadians who have identified U.S.-Canada relations including tariffs as their top concern has dropped by 12 points over the last month.
The re-emergence of health care was evident during Wednesday's French-language leaders' debate as Singh raised the issue several times, even though the issue was not among the five formally chosen themes. Those themes were cost of living; energy and climate; trade war; identity and sovereignty; and immigration and foreign affairs.
In fact, Singh's insistence on the issue eventually led moderators to cut him off at one stage. Notably, health care won't be among the five topics of Thursday's English-language debate: affordability and the cost of living; energy and climate; leading in a crisis; public safety and security; and tariffs and threats to Canada.
Heading into the two debates this week, an Angus Reil poll published April 14 and conducted April 10 to April 13 found Liberal support at 45 per cent and Conservative support at 39 per cent. Support for the NDP is seven per cent, tied the with the Bloc Qu茅b茅cois. The Green Party of Canada, whose co-leader Jonathan Pedneault, found himself excluded from the debates, is polling around one per cent.
Overall, Angus Reid finds the race between the incumbent Liberals and the Conservatives 乌鸦传媒渢ightening乌鸦传媒� as Conservatives have picked up three points from the last poll to pull the race within single digits. But the poll also shows that the federal Liberals remain strong in Ontario and Quebec and reveals ongoing unease among Canadians about Poilievre.
Three-in-five (60 per cent) Canadians say they have an unfavourable view of Poilievre, a record high.
"While there is still time left in the campaign, the (Conservative) leader has yet to find a way to appeal to any more than two-in-five Canadians at any point during his tenure," the report reads.
