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   From: Paula@nyet.ca   
      
   The Huffington Post Canada  |  12/18/2014   
      
      
   Canadians Unhappy With Harper Government's Performance, Poll Suggests   
      
      
   Canadians aren't feeling very positive about the direction of the country under   
   Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a new poll suggests.   
      
   But according to new numbers from Nanos Research and the Institute for Research   
   on Public Policy, things have improved slightly for Conservatives from their   
   darkest point last year.   
      
   The survey, released Thursday, shows 45 per cent of Canadians think the Harper   
   government has performed poorly or very poorly, while 37 per cent rate the   
   performance as good or very good. Last December, in the thick of the Senate   
   expense scandal, 56 per cent of respondents told Nanos they were unhappy with   
   the government's performance.   
      
   When asked if Canada is moving in the right or wrong direction, 48 per cent   
   said the country is headed the wrong way, while 37 per cent think it's on the   
   right track. While that's a six-point jump from last year, when just 31 per   
   cent thought Canada was going in the right direction, it's a long way from the   
   positive numbers of nearly four years ago. In 2011, 64 per cent of Canadians   
   said the country was moving in the right direction.   
      
   Fifty per cent of Canadians think the country's reputation has either not   
   improved or somewhat not improved from last year, while 35 per cent think it   
   has gone up.   
   Last year, only 18 per cent of respondents felt Canada's reputation was   
   improving.   
      
   The poll also touched on federal-provincial relations, a timely topic in light   
   of Harper's very public spat with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and looming   
   concerns in Newfoundland over Canada's free trade deal with Europe.  Fifty-two   
   percent think the relationship between the federal and provincial governments   
   hasn't improved from last year, while just 16 per cent think it has.   
      
   The numbers also show that fewer Canadians are willing to give the Harper   
   government "average" marks on these questions than in past years. Nanos   
   chairman Nik Nanos told The Globe and Mail the poll suggests Canada is a more   
   "polarized" country now.   
      
   And while things have improved for Tories since 2013, the data suggests there's   
   still more work to be done to improve their fortunes.   
      
   "Generally the view of many Canadians, of the government and its performance   
   and the direction of the country, is still negative," Nanos told The Globe.   
      
   The poll of 1,000 Canadians was conducted between November 15 and 18, as part   
   of a larger survey. It was administered both online and through the telephone   
   (both landlines and cellphones) and is believed to have a margin of error of   
   3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.   
      
   The survey is just the latest to be published at the conclusion of the fall   
   session of Parliament and start of the holiday break.   
      
   On Monday, EKOS Research published a poll suggesting a federal dead-heat, with   
   Liberals slightly ahead of Tories in voting intentions, 31.8 per cent to 30.8   
   per cent. Those numbers are similar to ones released by Ipsos Reid in early   
   December showing Liberals and Tories in a virtual tie.   
      
   However, Forum Research put Justin Trudeau's team in majority government   
   territory this week, with 41 per cent support compared to 33 per cent for the   
   Tories.   
      
   Poll aggregator ThreeHundredEight.com has the Liberals at 36 per cent support,   
   followed by the Tories at 32 per cent and New Democrats at 20 per cent.   
      
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