Trudeau's Party In Canada Stands Dead Even With Rivals: Poll

Montreal, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Oct, 2018 ) :The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in a statistical dead heat with its Conservative rivals just a year before Canada's next legislative elections, according to a survey published Sunday.

An Ipsos poll conducted for Global news found 36 percent of voters backing the Liberals, just one point ahead of the 35 percent supporting the Conservatives of Andrew Scheer.

A third party, the New Democratic Party, stood far behind with 20 percent support.

Ipsos CEO Darrell Bricker said the results foreshadowed a "pretty competitive election," while noting that much can change in 12 months.

But he added that for the relatively little-known Scheer -- the Conservatives' leader only since last year -- to be running neck and neck with "someone who's a rock star in Canadian politics" like Trudeau should concern the Liberals.

Another survey published Sunday by the CBC public network was slightly more favorable to the Liberals, giving them a 37 percent to 33 percent edge over the Conservatives.

According to Ipsos, Trudeau and his government drew their strongest support for their renegotiation with Washington of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and for their overall handling of relations with the US administration of President Donald Trump.

Many Canadians rallied behind Trudeau over what they saw as Trump's attempts to "bully" Ottawa over trade.

The Ipsos Global News poll was conducted from October 5 to 9. It surveyed 2,001 people, with a margin of error of 2.5 percent.