While a sizeable percentage agreed the Liberal deficits were bad, many also expressed support for the centrepiece spending measures featured in Tuesday’s budget
OTTAWA — With a federal election looming this fall, the Liberals and Conservatives are bracing for an ideological battle that pits the merits of balancing the books against spending on consumer confidence — and many Canadians may actually agree with both of them, a new poll suggests.
The Liberals argue the spending is necessary to make a real difference in the lives of Canadians, while Conservatives accuse the government of wasting money and saddling future generations with unnecessary debt. A large majority also voiced support for some big-ticket items in Tuesday’s budget, including a plan to expand high-speed internet to remote and underserved areas of Canada, which garnered the support of 76 per cent of respondents, and a suite of measures to help workers to learn new job skills, which got a thumbs-up from three quarters of those polled.
“If you’re the Liberals, the clear story is to say: ‘Well, we needed to go into deficit to help the economy and do all of these great things that you agree with,”‘ said Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque. It heard from 1,513 Canadians who are eligible to vote and were recruited from the firm’s online panel. The results were weighted to reflect age, gender, mother tongue, region and level of education to reflect the makeup of Canada’s population.
Yet while 37 per cent said they would back the Conservatives — a one-point bump from February and four-point increase since November — Bourque said most of the gain has come from voters in the West and may not translate into a big gain of seats in Parliament.
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