Seems that Iggy supporters are sucking air:
But it also said a majority of respondents, 55 per cent, did not agree the Liberals are ready to govern again.
Nor did 72 per cent of those polled want the official opposition party to defeat the government and trigger an election as soon as possible.
But it also said a majority of respondents, 55 per cent, did not agree the Liberals are ready to govern again.
Nor did 72 per cent of those polled want the official opposition party to defeat the government and trigger an election as soon as possible.
Grits lead Tories, but Harper tops Ignatieff: PollGrits lead Tories, but Harper tops Ignatieff: Poll
Canadians prefer Harper to Ignatieff by a wide margin on issues of vision, trust and ability to lead during tough economic times, said the poll of 1,001 adults conducted Wednesday and Thursday for Canwest News Service and Global National.
VANCOUVER — Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff described his party as "fit to govern" Friday as a poll showed the Grits leading the Conservatives for the first time since the October election in an Ipsos Reid poll.
While the Liberal lead of 36 per cent to 33 could be enough to form government, the poll found Prime Minister Stephen Harper outranking Ignatieff on many counts on the eve of a national Liberal convention vote confirming his four-month-old leadership.
It also found little public hunger for having another federal election.
Canadians prefer Harper to Ignatieff by a wide margin on issues of vision, trust and ability to lead during tough economic times, said the poll of 1,001 adults conducted Wednesday and Thursday for Canwest News Service and Global National.
Pollster John Wright said the Liberals' biggest strength appears to be their brand, while the Conservatives' strength is seen as Harper's leadership.
"Ignatieff is still unknown or is still an enigma," Wright said. "When you compare him with Mr. Harper, Harper's much better defined and much more positive."
Ignatieff emphasized fitness to govern in a speech to his party's youth wing at a national convention in Vancouver, as more than 2,000 Grits prepared for an official evening tribute to the party's previous leader, Stephane Dion.
Ignatieff praised Dion — who led the party to its lowest electoral showing in decades and whom Ignatieff replaced in December — for toughing out "the brutality of politics."
The poll suggested the Liberals have closed what was, as recently as December, a 23-point gap behind the governing Conservatives.
But it also said a majority of respondents, 55 per cent, did not agree the Liberals are ready to govern again.
Nor did 72 per cent of those polled want the official opposition party to defeat the government and trigger an election as soon as possible.
Those who regarded the Liberals as ready to return to power totalled 45 per cent of 1,001 adults polled.
"The rich base now of the Liberals put it in such a place they could probably form the government (because) of the voting tilt in the country," said Wright, senior vice-president of Ipsos Reid.
In Ontario, the Liberals have a 10-point lead over the Conservatives.
And while the Liberals in Quebec trail the Bloc Quebecois 34 per cent to 32 per cent, the Conservatives are far behind, with just 14 per cent of the support of decided voters.
Because Quebec and Ontario have 181 out of the 308 seats in the House of Commons, strong support there can translate into more influence in Parliament.
Ipsos Reid said its poll is accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The pollster said the margin of error is greater for regional results.
The poll suggested that 13 per cent of Canadians would vote for the NDP, an improvement of one point since December, while Green party support held steady at eight per cent.
The poll suggested 43 per cent of Canadians believe Harper would make the best prime minister, compared to 33 per cent for Ignatieff and 23 per cent for NDP Leader Jack Layton. Those numbers were unchanged since December.
Meanwhile, 46 per cent said they see Harper as the best manager for tough economic times, up two points since December, compared to 32 per cent for Ignatieff and 17 per cent for Layton, who was down two points.
Paul Martin, former Liberal prime minister and finance minister, on Friday asserted that Ignatieff's Liberals are equipped to take the country out of the recession and blasted Harper for spending the surplus he inherited from the Liberals.
"I think people have got to ask: Did it make sense for the country to go into deficit before a penny was spent on stimulus spending?" he said to reporters.
"I think the country has to ask: Did a government which denied that the world was going into a global recession, is that a government which is capable of taking us out of this kind of a recession?"
The poll suggested six in 10 Canadians believe the nearly three decades Ignatieff spent outside Canada as a journalist and teacher do not make him any less qualified to lead the country.
Four in ten respondents said it was an issue of concern.
Meanwhile Ignatieff told reporters that Dion will be kindly remembered by Liberals for "the enormous achievements" of recruiting more female candidates and focusing on environmental sustainability.
Ignatieff commented a few hours before the party's official evening tribute to Dion, the Montreal MP Ignatieff replaced in December after the Liberals' poor showing in the October election.
"He had a tough time in politics," Ignatieff said. "Sometimes it was brutal, but as someone who's been through some of the brutality of politics, one of the things I admire was his courage, his toughness, his patriotism, his resolve, his devotion to the country."
Ignatieff also made a pitch Friday before the youth wing of the party for a proposal, set for a vote Saturday, to establish a one-member, one-vote system for electing party leaders in the future.