XPost: can.politics, ab.politics, ont.politics   
   XPost: bc.politics   
   From: 08A0"@nyet.ca   
      
   And I'm predicting that the 21 seats the Harper Cons won in BC last   
   election will be reduced to 3 - at most.  British Columbians will not   
   tolerate having tarsands oil and their damnable pipelines pushed on them.   
   ____________________________________________________________   
      
      
      
   June 18, 2014 Updated: June 18, 2014   
      
   Trudeau, Liberals widen lead over Conservatives, new poll shows   
      
      
   OTTAWA—Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and his party have widened their   
   public-opinion lead over the ruling Conservatives in the past few weeks,   
   according to a new poll by Forum Research.   
      
   Liberals were the preferred party for 39 per cent of poll respondents,   
   compared to 31 per cent for the Conservatives and 19 per cent for the   
   New Democratic Party.   
      
   In terms of leadership, Trudeau also scored highest in approval, with 43   
   per cent, compared to 38 per cent for NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and 34   
   per cent for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.   
      
   But Trudeau and Harper are essentially tied when the question is “who   
   would make the best prime minister?” — 28 per cent say Harper, 27 per   
   cent say Trudeau, and 16 per cent say Mulcair.   
      
   The overall support numbers represent a rebound for the Liberals from   
   last month, when Trudeau sparked controversy with his declaration that   
   the party was firmly pro-choice on abortion — a position he underlined   
   once again on Wednesday when he made clear that all MPs, current and   
   future ones, are expected to vote in favour of choice in any   
   abortion-related matters in the Commons.   
      
   Prince Edward Island MP Lawrence MacAulay, who had said earlier this   
   week that he considered himself exempt from the rule, publicly stated   
   that he would go along with the leader’s position.   
      
   “I accept and understand the party position regarding a woman’s right to   
   choose,” MacAulay declared on Twitter. “Despite my personal beliefs, I   
   understand that I will have to vote the party position should this issue   
   ever come up in the House of Commons.”   
      
   (At the end of May, after several weeks of criticism and commentary   
   about Trudeau’s harder line on abortion, Liberal support was pegged at   
   36 per cent in Forum polling, while Conservatives were at 30 per cent   
   and the NDP was at 23 per cent.   
      
   “It appears his public has forgiven him this controversy, and he has   
   regained most of the ground he and his party might have briefly lost,”   
   Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff, said in a statement   
   accompanying the poll release.   
      
   Liberal support, according to Forum, is highest among people in Ontario   
   and Atlantic Canada, as well as mothers with children and people with   
   higher levels of income or education.   
      
   Though none of the poll questions drew any parallels between Trudeau’s   
   Liberals and their newly victorious Liberal cousins in Ontario, the rise   
   in federal support took place at the same time as Premier Kathleen   
   Wynne’s party was bouncing back from predicted defeat to a majority   
   victory last week.   
      
   Forum Research conducted the poll on Monday and Tuesday this week   
   through an interactive voice response telephone survey of 1,683 randomly   
   selected Canadians 18 and older. Results based on the total sample are   
   considered accurate within two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.   
      
   The poll also comes when the Liberals are in two intense byelection   
   fights in Ontario — Trinity-Spadina and Scarborough-Agincourt, where   
   voters will choose new MPs on June 30.   
      
   Conservatives turned up the heat on Trudeau this week in   
   Scarborough-Agincourt with a series of ads alleging the Liberal leader   
   would make it easier for young people to get access to marijuana.   
      
   “Trudeau wants marijuana in local stores, just like alcohol and   
   cigarettes,” states a Conservative flyer, showing Trudeau beside a   
   picture of a young boy lighting a joint.   
      
   On Wednesday, Trudeau called the ad campaign “disgusting.”   
      
   “Anyone who would accuse a father of three, as I am, of wishing harm on   
   children needs to seriously ask themselves some questions about how they   
   choose to practice politics,” Trudeau told reporters.   
      
   The flyers also contain anti-Trudeau quotes from former Liberal MP for   
   Scarborough-Agincourt, Jim Karygiannis, who has spoken out publicly   
   against the new pro-choice policy for the party.   
      
   “The attacks are misleading and quite frankly disgusting,” Trudeau said.   
   “I know that Canadians are better than that.”   
      
   Trudeau had originally said that the pro-choice order would not apply to   
   sitting MPs, including MacAulay and others who have consistently voted   
   against abortion.   
      
   But on Wednesday, he clarified that this “grandfathering” provision only   
   applied to whether they would be approved as candidates. No matter how   
   they have voted in the past, they would be expected to adhere to the   
   party’s pro-choice position, Trudeau explained.   
      
   “The grandfathering was around the nomination process,” Trudeau said.   
   “But the policy going forward is that every single Liberal MP will be   
   expected to stand up for women’s rights to choose.”   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)