OTTAWA - A new poll suggests Michael Ignatieff's musings about potential tax increases could hurt his efforts to build Liberal support across the country -- except in Quebec.
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey indicates that 30 per cent of respondents nationwide are less likely to vote Liberal in the next election as a result of the party leader's reflections on taxes last week; only 16 per cent are more likely to support the Grits.
The damage was most pronounced in Atlantic Canada and British Columbia, where 44 per cent and 40 per cent respectively were less likely to vote Liberal.
However, the poll suggests Ignatieff's tax talk went down well in Quebec, where 29 per cent of respondents were more likely to vote Liberal and only 10 per cent less likely.
Last week, Ignatieff initially appeared to suggest that tax hikes are inevitable to eliminate massive budget deficits currently being racked up by the Conservative government in a bid to stimulate the sputtering economy.
He later clarified that a Liberal government would increase taxes only as a last resort and only once the economy has fully recovered.
The telephone survey of just over 1,000 Canadians was conducted April 16-19 and is considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
The margin of error is larger for provincial findings.
