NB Liberals maintain comfortable lead as election nears

At a glance:

– The New Brunswick Liberal Party continues to be the preferred party in the province, despite a decline in voter support, compared with February 2017

– Consistent with last quarter, one-half of residents express satisfaction with the performance of the New Brunswick government

– Premier Brian Gallant remains the preferred party leader in the province

HALIFAX, N.S. – The New Brunswick Liberal Party continues to hold a comfortable lead over other provincial parties in terms of voter support, despite being down from this point last year, according to the most recent survey conducted by Corporate Research Associates Inc.

Specifically, just over four in 10 New Brunswick decided voters support the Liberals (43%, compared with 47% in November 2017, and down from 51% in February 2017). This represents the lowest level of support for the Liberals since August 2015 (36%). Meanwhile, three in ten decided voters back the PC Party (30%, compared with 28%), and one in eight support the New Democratic Party (13%, compared with 11%). Green Party support is also stable this quarter (11%, compared with 9%), while three percent of voters back the People’s Alliance of New Brunswick (unchanged).

The number of residents who are undecided rests at 33 percent (compared with 34% three months ago), while four percent refuse to state a preference (compared with 6%), and three percent either support none of the parties or do not plan to vote (compared with 4%).

In terms of government performance, satisfaction is stable, as one-half of New Brunswickers are satisfied with the performance of the provincial government (52%, compared with 49% three months ago), while four in ten are dissatisfied (38%, compared with 39%), and nine percent do not offer an opinion on the matter (compared with 12%).

With regards to leader preference, support for Premier Brian Gallant stands at 32 percent (unchanged from November 2017), while preference for PC leader Blaine Higgs rests at 19 percent (compared with 18%), and support for Green Party leader David Coon is at 12 percent (compared with 9%). Meanwhile, NDP leader Jennifer McKenzie is backed by eight percent (unchanged), and Kris Austin of the People’s Alliance of New Brunswick is preferred by five percent (compared with 3%). Finally, three percent of New Brunswick residents prefer none of these leaders (compared with 5%), while 21 percent (compared with 25%) do not offer a definite opinion.

These results are part of the CRA Atlantic Quarterly®, an independent telephone survey of Atlantic Canadians, and are based on a sample of 800 adult New Brunswickers, conducted from February 1 to March 3, 2018, with overall results accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.

About Corporate Research Associates

Corporate Research Associates (CRA), www.cra.ca, is one of Canada’s leading public opinion and market research companies. Founded in 1978, CRA is dedicated to providing clients with state-of-the-art research and strategic consulting services. CRA is aCertified Gold Seal Member of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA), which sets stringent standards as a condition of membership, and enforces those standards through independent audits. Follow us on Twitter @CRAInsight.