By this evening, we'll know whether we're headed into a federal election. Bruce Anderson and David Coletto at Abacus Data have surveyed Canadians on the prospect of an election:
About a third of those surveyed say they have been following this situation very or pretty closely. One in five Canadians (20%) hadn’t heard of it. The rest had only a vague recollection. Compared to our norms this indicates a relatively low level of public engagement so far.
Conservative supporters are slightly more likely to be following the events closely, but about a third of all four major party supporters say they are following the events at least pretty closely.
A majority (55%) of those surveyed would prefer to see the vote to create the committee passed and an election triggered. Just under half (45%) would prefer MPs act to prevent an election.
Conservative voters are broadly in favour (76%) of triggering the election, although 1 in 4 (24%) of them do not want this outcome.
Just over a third of Liberal supporters prefer to see an election, but 62% would prefer to avoid one at this time. For NDP leader Jagmeet Singh his voters are roughly evenly split with 55% preferring to avoid an election while 45% willing to go to the polls.
It appears that Singh has his ear to the ground and will vote against the Conservative motion. The motion itself should come as no surprise. The Conservatives have been itching to bring Trudeau down since he became prime minister. M. Blanchet also has been itching for an election.
I suspect that the NDP's coffers need some time to be replenished. Political self-interest is driving the decision.
We await the future.
Image: Port Credit BIA
