THUNDER BAY – News – Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak is in Thunder Bay today to address the Chamber of Commerce. If the PC leader seems a little happy while it Thunder Bay, it could be as a result of the latest Ipsos Reid poll. The latest results are showing that the Ontario PCs are widening their lead over the governing Liberals.
Ipsos Reid is also showing the PCs are leading the Liberals in Northern Ontario. The poll shows the PCs hold the support of 45% of voters, with the New Democrats in second place with 30% and the Liberals trailing in third place with 25% support.
If the election were held tomorrow, Mr. Hudak and the Tories would receive the support of 42% of decided voters, up 2 points since last month’s poll. In comparison, Premier McGuinty and his Grits would receive 31% of the vote among decided voters, down 3 points. Ontario’s NDP led by Andrea Horwath would garner 22% of the vote (up 2 points), while Mike Schreiner and the Green Party would receive 5% support (down 1 point).
While the gap between the PCs and Liberals has risen from 6 points to 11 points in the last month, Hudak’s gains have been exclusively outside of the GTA, where his party is already the dominant force. In fact, in many regions outside of the GTA, the Liberals are being threatened by a bolstered NDP. Inside the GTA, Premier McGuinty continues to hold on to a small lead – just 2 points – which is, statistically speaking, a tie and within the poll’s margin of error.
In the GTA, the Liberals (39%) have a narrow lead over the Progressive Conservatives (37%), while the NDP (20%) and Green Party (4%) are well behind. In South-western Ontario, the Tories (52%) hold their biggest lead over the Grits (23%), NDP (18%) and Green Party (6%).
In Central Ontario, the PCs (43%) lead while the NDP (25%) and Liberals (20%) battle it out for second place, with the Green Party (12%) in fourth place. In Eastern Ontario, the Progressive Conservatives (44%) hold a healthy lead over the Liberals (28%), with the NDP (24%) not far behind, and the Green Party (4%) lagging behind.
