Gallant Liberals hold lead despite HST hike, CRA poll shows

The New BrunswickLiberals continue to hold the lead over the other political parties with the support of more than half of decided voters in the province, despite the recent HST hike,according to the latest surveyby Corporate Research Associates Inc.

Satisfaction with the performance of the government remains stable about about halfandPremier Brian Gallant continues to be the preferred party leader, holding his ground since the last poll in May,the results released on Thursday show.

The Gallant Liberalshad the support of 54 per cent of decided voters polled by telephone between Aug. 5 and Aug. 31.That's consistent with last quarter'sresults of 52 per cent.

• HST increase noticed by some New Brunswickers, not by others

TheHST increase of two percentage points to 15 per cent took effect on July 1.

Support for the Progressive Conservatives, meanwhile,was up slightly to28 per cent, from 25 per cent,while NDP support dropped to eight per cent from 12 per cent.

Green Party support dipped slightly to eight per cent from nine per cent, while thePeople's Alliance of New Brunswick remained stable at two per cent.

Government satisfaction stable

The voter satisfaction level with the Gallantgovernment remained unchanged at 49 per cent. Thirty-nine per cent of New Brunswickerspolled said they are dissatisfied, while the remaining 12 per cent did not offer an opinion, CRA said.

Gallant remains the most popular leader choice at 39 per cent, followed by interim Progressive Conservative Leader Bruce Fitch at 15 per cent, Green party Leader David Coon at nine per cent, NDP Leader Dominic Cardyat eight per cent and People's Alliance of New Brunswick Leader Kris Austin at four per cent.

Thirty-two per cent of residents said they are undecided, while six per cent refused to state their preference and four per cent indicated they either support none of the parties or do not plan to vote, CRA said.

The results are based on a sample of 804 adults, with a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.