OTTAWA - A new poll suggests Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has a lot of public support in his continuing feud with federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey looked at the war of words between the two politicians, in which McGuinty accuses Flaherty of concentrating too much on the oil-and-gas sector, and giving short shrift to troubled manufacturers.
Nationally, the poll suggests 47 per cent of respondents sided with McGuinty, with only 27 per cent backing Flaherty.
In Ontario, the poll found 56 per cent support for the premier and 25 per cent for the minister.
The survey suggested 39 per cent of Albertans backed Flaherty, with only 27 per cent favouring McGuinty.
Bruce Anderson, president of Harris-Decima said the results could bode ill for the Tories.
"This dispute carries clear political risk for the federal Conservatives and potential upside for the federal Liberal party and Ontario's provincial Liberals,'' he said.
"The challenge for Ottawa in continuing this dispute has three elements. First, most people think the economy has underlying strength, want to believe in that and, on many days, hear the federal government saying the same thing.
"Second, some might interpret minister Flaherty's argument as a signal that the federal Conservatives are shrugging off responsibility to help the economy of Ontario, or are anxious to shift blame.
"Finally, the comments are often reported as having a partisan edge, which voters increasingly find an `unnecessary evil' in modern politics.''
Anderson said the last could be a real problem for the Tories because he has found that for potential swing voters, the biggest concern about the Conservatives is their perceived level of partisanship.
The McGuinty-Flaherty poll was conducted Feb. 21-24 as part of a national omnibus survey. It questioned just over 1,000 people and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
