Canadians Call for New Election; Harper Would Win Big Majority

Compas ^ | December 5, 2008 | N/A

[Catholic Canadian]

December 5, 2008 View / Download complete poll in PDF

Canadians Call for New Election; Harper Would Win Big Majority, Sweep Seat-Rich Ontario and Overtake Liberals in Quebec A Canadian Business/COMPAS Poll

Canadians Call for an Election

Below are highlights from a new Canada-wide, COMPAS Research poll on the recent turmoil in the House of Commons. Permission is granted to publish or broadcast results provided COMPAS Inc. is appropriately cited.

For comments or inquiries, please contact COMPAS President Conrad Winn at (416) 598-0310 or on his direct cell at (416) 460-5844.

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By a more than 2:1 margin, Canadians call for another election if the choice faced by the Governor-General were between inviting Stephane Dion to form a government and hold a fresh general election weeks after the most recent one. That is the key finding from a national representative poll completed December 4, 2008. If an election were held today, Stephen Harper would win a large majority based on nation-wide support of 51% compared to 20% for the Liberals, 10% for the NDP, 6% for the Greens, and 8% for the Bloc. Harper would sweep seat-rich Ontario with 53% of the vote compared to 24% for the Liberals and 10% for the NDP in that province and would surpass Dion in Quebec with 32% of the vote compared to 19% for the Liberals and 35% for the Bloc.

Key factors in this lightening speed transformation of public opinion:

66% of Canadians oppose the Bloc Quebecois having a say in who forms the government;

48% have confidence in Stephen Harper as Prime Minister in the current economic climate compared to 14% for Michael Ignatieff in second place, 11% for NDP leader Jack Layton, 8% for Stephane Dion, 4% for Bob Rae, and 3% for Gilles Duceppe;

58% believe that the Coalition's real or main motivation was a power grab while 28% perceive the Opposition as honestly believing that Harper is a poor manager of the economy;

61% believe that the Liberals, following their drop in support in the October election, should not be trying to form a government.

[fanfan]

I hope and think that your Harper is Palin.

Give her a chance....it took Harper a while to gain all the trust he has.

[JSDude1]

true, but (and I like her), however she’s not as Conservative as is widely seen as..

Trust me, even though she’s a strong woman, a typical American, and ~somewhat conservative, she’s not as conservative as I’d like.

Personally I liked Ron Paul (though he doesn’t have the oratory skills to be the next RR, Thatcher, BB, or Harper).

I don’t know..maybe Mike Pence..?! (You’ve probably never heard of him, right)?

[fanfan]

true, but (and I like her), however she’s not as Conservative as is widely seen as..

The same is true for Harper, and therefore he doesn't offend the 'rational liberal'.

Who is (John Galt) Mike Pence?

[StAnDeliver]

"Except when you factor in that the Liberals are basically bankrupt to the tune of 40+ million dollars, and barely made the last payment on their loan. Dion is personally in debt over $600,000, so you can be he's crapping himself."

You'll never hear it in the MSM...

[mainerforglobalwarming]

The hippies fled to Canada during the Vietnam War, I’m thinking fleeing to Canada during the Obama administration. Funny how things work out eh?

[fanfan]

You are welcome to come on up.

[Heatseeker]

Even the Ipsos and Ekos polls have the Conservatives well into majority territory.

[mainerforglobalwarming]

Thanks. I’m in Maine, so I just have to go a little ways. If I can find a job, maybe I’ll work my way across the border.

[fanfan]

You’d like it.

Do it for the children.
;-)

[FreedomNotSafety]

Do i have my facts straight, that the opposition can topple his government and form a new government but if elections were called instead he would probably win big? How are elections triggered vs “toppling”?

how i

[mainerforglobalwarming]

Hey, I love Red Green. Miss John Candy. So, I’ll be fine in Canada. You’ve got good folks up there, so it should be a great place to spend 4 or 8 years.

[fanfan]

Red Green is not real.

You can only come to Canada if you acknowledge that fact.

*hands on hips*

[mainerforglobalwarming]

Sadly, I know you’re right. But I’ll keep my stick on the ice though. And use the handyman’s friend, duct tape, whenever duty calls.

[fanfan]

Duct tape is God’s Bandaid!

If Duct tape doesn’t fix it, apply WD-40.

[mainerforglobalwarming]

Darn right. Important info for the youths of the world to know.

[Clive]

In the Westminster form of parliamentary system, a government lasts only so long as the Prime Minister keeps the confidence of the House.

If the PM loses a vote of confidence he must ask the Governor General to drop the writ for a new general election. Theoretically the Governor General could decide that the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition has a good chance of gaining and keeping the confidence of the house and so refuse to drop the writ and instead appoint the opposition leader as prime Minister. This is one of the so-called 'reserve powers" of the Governor General. The parties opposition parties seem to be relying on this fact.

But it is by no means certain that the Governor General would actually refuse to drop the writ. Since the King-Byng Wind-Ding in 1926, the conventional thinking is that the Governor General will never again hand over power to an opposition leader against the wishes of the Government but will always, instead, put the issue to the electorate in the form of a general election.

But this is matter of constitutional convention, not one of a "written constitution" so-called. A constitutional convention is not something that can be decided by a Court, instead it is something that is generally agreed to be the binding convention.

The question is whether the Governor General, who is a former Mother Corp personality appointed by a former Liberal government, will abide the convention or will instead again assert her "reserve powers" and thereby start a new convention (possibly at the risk of being condemned for acting as if she were an absolute monarch instead of as a constitutional fiction).

I am grossly over-simplifying and am explaining it badly. Canada's constitution is a mix of constitutional documents, statutes and unwritten conventional practices going back through time to Magna Charta. It is hard for one raised in it to interpret it to those raised in a theoretically wholly written constitution.

[JSDude1]

A Conservative Leader in our House of Representatives, He’s actually my home Representative, however he is known nationally in conservative circles (on a national level) here in the USA! He’s all around a pretty good guy (though not perfect), Pro-Life, Marriage, recognizes the Christian Heritage of the USA, Pro-Free Markets, Smaller Gov, Less Taxes,..

He’s been recommended before as a possible Presidential or Congressional Leader or even Gov of IN.

[FreedomNotSafety]

The Magna Charta... a founding document for both US and Canada.

[Sam Gamgee]

I am starting to think you may be right - Harper's chief problem has always been the media that holds the public captive. For Americans here they need to understand that while only 17% of Americans have total faith in the MSM, something like 40% of Canadians take what their media says as gospel. Which is even more dangerous since TV media is absolutely dominated by leftist liberals, print media enjoy one national left of centre paper, the rest are far left of centre.

Harper needed a work around the media to get his message to the public. The message was that the Liberals/NDP/Bloc are the ones with the so called hidden agenda. They are the ones to fear and hold with suspicion. And he achieved that. There is very little change of an election - the coalition does not want the public a chance to give Harper a mandate. Most likely they will back down and vote in the budget. There is still an outside chance they try to steal power, but doing so will hurt the Liberal brand forever.