Wynne Liberals could lose official party status if election held today: poll
Posted March 31, 2017 7:34 am.
Last Updated March 31, 2017 9:45 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The governing Ontario Liberals could be decimated if an election were held today, according to a new poll.
Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said with just over a year to election day, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals face a tough task in reversing their polling numbers.
“The path to victory for the Liberals keeps narrowing each month. I’m not saying it’s impossible, it just becomes more and more difficult,” Bozinoff told 680 NEWS on Friday.
The Forum Research poll, which was published in the Toronto Sun, found not only would the Liberals suffer a crushing defeat in the election, they would also lose official party status.
The poll suggests voters would elect the Progressive Conservatives with a huge majority at 43 per cent support, while the NDP would be the Official Opposition at 28 per cent. The Liberals would be in third place at 19 per cent support.
The Tories would snag 86 seats with the NDP at 29 seats. The Liberals would only manage to snag seven seats. Right now, there are 107 seats at Queen’s Park, but that will rise to 122 seats in the 2018 election. Parties need eight seats to maintain official party status in Ontario.
Bozinoff said soaring hydro rates continue to hobble the Liberals, despite Wynne’s efforts to make bills more affordable.
“The announcement that they’re going to reduce the rates in June doesn’t seem to have helped them very much. It might be because people are waiting until June to see the actual reduction on their bills,” he said.
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Bozinoff said Liberals are the party in the middle and bleeding support on both sides.
“That centre is kind of melting both to the right [with] the upswing for the Tories, and now melting also to the left with the upswing to the NDP,” he said.
Ontario voters also don’t seem to have a lot of faith in any of the party leaders.
The poll also asked who would make the best premier and 30 per cent said “none of the above,” followed by PC Leader Patrick Brown at 23 per cent, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath at 22 per cent, and Wynne at nine per cent.
The Forum poll surveyed 884 Ontarians March 28-30 and is considered accurate plus or minus 3.3 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
