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One week into the federal election campaign, the economy has now tied health care as the most important issue to Canadians, says a new poll.

According to a new Nanos Research poll conducted for Â鶹´«Ã½ and the Globe and Mail, jobs and the economy have closed an 11-point gap and are now statistically tied with health care as voters' number-one priority.

Health care was most important to 24.2 per cent of respondents, down from 29.2 percent at the start of the campaign, while jobs and the economy are now most important to 23 per cent of voters, up from 18.1 per cent.

According to the poll:

• 8.3 per cent of respondents said education was the most important issue, down from 8.8 per cent
• 6.1 per cent of respondents indicated that the environment is the most important issue, down from 7.5 per cent
• high taxes were of greatest concern for 6.3 per cent of voters, up from 4.9 per cent

The results are based on a rolling three-day survey of 1,200 Canadians, from April 1 to April 3. Every evening, a new group of 400 interviews is added to the sample, while the oldest group of 400 is dropped. The margin of error for a survey of 1,200 respondents is +/- 2.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Stephen Harper still leads on the Nanos Leadership Index Score, which measures the party leaders' trustworthiness, competence and vision.

Harper has built up a commanding lead of 102.1, measured on April 3. That was down slightly from a day before, when his score hit 109.2. NDP Leader Jack Leader appears to have broken away from Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and is now solidly in second place at 57.4, up from 51.1 on April 2. Ignatieff's April 3 score of 44.2 is down slightly from the day before, when it was 46.9.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe received a score of 15.4, up from 14.4, while Elizabeth May received a score of 9.2, up from 7.0.

While Harper, Ignatieff and Layton saw little change in their vision for Canada scores, the biggest changes are seen in competence and trust. On April 2, 32.7 per cent of respondents found Harper to be the most trustworthy, while 18.9 per cent chose Layton and 16.3 per cent chose Ignatieff. The next day, 31.6 per cent said Harper was the most trustworthy, with 20.8 per cent choosing Layton and 12.7 per cent choosing Ignatieff.

On April 2, 41.5 per cent of respondents rated Harper as most competent, but by April 3 that percentage dropped to 36.2. Meanwhile, Layton was rated most competent by 17.7 per cent of respondents on April 3, up from 14.1 per cent the day before. Ignatieff's competence figures remained steady, up to 14.6 per cent on April 3, from 14.3 per cent the day before.

Earlier Monday, a new Nanos Research poll for Â鶹´«Ã½ and the Globe and Mail found that the Conservatives now have a 14-point lead over the Liberals, with 42.3 per cent support. The Liberals were in second with 28.4 per cent, followed by the NDP with 16.4 per cent.