XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ont.politics   
   XPost: ab.politics, man.politics, sk.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   Globe and Mail - December 30, 2013   
      
      
   Canada is headed in the wrong direction, majority says in poll   
      
   Annual Nanos survey shows low marks for Harper government   
      
      
   Support for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is dropping   
   sharply, according to a new poll showing a majority of Canadians believe   
   the country is headed in the wrong direction.   
      
   The Nanos Research poll also shows 56 per cent of people rate the   
   government's 2013 performance as "somewhat poor" or "very poor," a far   
   higher share than the poll had found in earlier years.  In particular,   
   44 per cent of respondents in the Prairies said the government's 2013   
   performance was "very poor," signalling unrest in the Harper   
   Conservatives' backyard.   
      
   The figures come from the annual "Mood of Canada" poll, conducted by   
   Nanos and the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) and   
   released Monday.  The results are bleak for a government that has spent   
   months coping with the fallout of the Senate spending scandal, which has   
   triggered an RCMP investigation and raised questions about the conduct   
   of those in Mr. Harper's own office.   
      
   (For more analysis and numbers, check out our political polls page1.)   
      
   The Senate scandal differs from previous controversies in that it   
   directly implicates the Prime Minister, who has been tasked with   
   personally defending his handling of the issue, pollster Nik Nanos said.   
      
   "There was always a bit of a buffer. This year was the first year where   
   the Prime Minister was very closely associated with the controversy,   
   specifically the Senate controversy," he said. "... I think we can now   
   mark 2013 as the year that Stephen Harper's personal brand took a hit."   
      
   In the Mood of Canada survey's seven-year history, this year's results   
   set new lows for the government: 55 per cent said Canada is headed in   
   the "wrong direction," while the poll had never shown that figure to be   
   higher than 38 per cent.  Another 38 per cent said government had a   
   "very poor" year, more than double what the poll had ever shown.  And 45   
   per cent said Canada's reputation was "not improved" internationally   
   this year; 8 per cent said the same a year ago.   
      
   The Senate scandal "has had a significant spillover effect in how people   
   are viewing the government writ-large," Mr. Nanos said.   
      
   Asked to rate the Harper government's 2013 performance, 12 per cent said   
   "very good" and 14 per cent said "somewhat good" – a total of 26 per   
   cent generally in approval, down from 33 per cent in 2012 and 40 per   
   cent in 2011, when the Conservatives won a majority government.   
   Conversely, 18 per cent said the government's performance was "somewhat   
   poor" in 2013 and 38 per cent – the largest cohort by far – said "very   
   poor."  The rest said the government did an average job, or were unsure.   
      
   Poll respondents also see fraying relationships between Ottawa and the   
   provinces, with 58 per cent saying relations had somewhat not improved   
   or not improved at all, up sharply from previous years.   
      
   Generally, the Conservative government got poorer reviews from female   
   respondents, in Atlantic Canada and among people between the ages of 18   
   and 29.  But across age groups, geographic regions and gender, the   
   trends were the same: More people say the government is doing a poor   
   job, and that Canada is headed in the wrong direction, than say otherwise.   
      
   The poll didn't ask who respondents would vote for, but "we have to   
   think of it more as a leading indicator," Mr. Nanos said.   
      
   However, recent polls have shown Conservative support dropping.  A Dec.   
   19 Ekos poll showed Justin Trudeau's Liberals at 32 per cent, followed   
   by Mr. Harper's Conservatives at what Ekos called a "historic low" of 26   
   per cent and Thomas Mulcair's NDP at 23 per cent.   
      
   The Nanos results are based on weighted online responses from 1,000   
   Canadians between Dec. 14 and Dec. 16. The pollster says the results are   
   considered accurate within 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)