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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Taxing rich and oilsands winners for NDP: poll
OTTAWA -- The New Democratic Party's new leader, to be chosen today, has a chance to defeat the Conservatives in 2015 by rallying the party around key economic, environmental, social and foreign policy issues, according to a poll released Friday.
The Innovative Research Group Inc. poll, conducted for The Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald, suggested there are a number of Canadians, including former Liberal supporters, who could be drawn to policies that increase taxes on corporations and rich individuals and take a hard line on the oilsands.
"The NDP candidates are talking about ideas that have the potential to engage more than enough Canadians to form government," said Innovative Research managing director Greg Lyle, who has worked primarily for small-c conservative parties.
One policy that would unite "progressive" Canadians inside and outside Quebec is putting a tax on carbon to fight environmental damage caused by the oilsands industry, Lyle said.
But the NDP faces some vulnerabilities, including gun control, its support for unions and its policies designed to appeal to Quebec nationalists, Lyle said in his analysis. The Quebec issue is the best weapon "the other parties have to hammer the NDP."
The online survey of 1,193 Canadians was taken Tuesday and Wednesday and is considered accurate within 2.84 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, according to the pollster.
Lyle discussed the various ideas being proposed by the seven NDP leadership candidates and dissected the poll's responses to establish subgroups more or less inclined to support NDP policies.
"Economic issues are a home run for the NDP," he wrote. "Almost seven in 10 Canadians want the government to take action to close the gap between rich and poor.
"Two-thirds (66 per cent) want government to raise taxes on the rich and big business. Again, seven in 10 support the idea (the government should) discourage the export of raw resources and do more value-added here in Canada."
But the survey found cool support for unions, and proposals to bring back the gun registry divide some NDP supporters.
On national unity, just one-third (32 per cent) agreed with the statement "there are a lot of issues where it makes sense to do things one way in Quebec and another in the rest of Canada."
The NDP strongly supports so-called "asymmetrical federalism" allowing Quebec to opt out of national social programs, and backs Quebec's right to separate from Canada with only a bare majority in a referendum.
Lyle said the NDP will struggle to avoid getting pummelled by the Conservatives and Liberals on the national-unity issue.
Among decided voters, the poll found 37 per cent said they'd vote Conservative if an election were held this week. The NDP was the choice of 25 per cent, the Liberals were third at 24 per cent and the Bloc Québécois and Green party were tied at seven per cent each.
-- Postmedia News
-- Postmedia News
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 24, 2012 A7
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