Mideast taking a toll on Tories
Harper seen as too cozy with U.S.: Poll
PM likely to boost humanitarian aid
CANADIAN PRESS - Aug. 3rd, 2006.

OTTAWA—A new poll suggests Tory support is sliding over voter concern that Canada has become too cozy with the United States on Middle East policy.

The latest results by Decima Research, released to The Canadian Press, put the Conservatives and Liberals in a virtual tie nationally. The Tories had 32 per cent support compared with the Liberals' 31 per cent and 16 per cent for the New Democrats.

But in a gesture Tory officials predict will halt the slide, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is poised to announce a greater contribution from Canada to the Mideast humanitarian crisis.

Rahim Jaffer, chairman of the Conservative caucus that meets this week for a retreat in Cornwall, hinted last night at an aid announcement.

"There are a lot of issues that can come up in discussions — how to deal with refugees that are currently displaced, humanitarian assistance — and there is a host of issues that we can actually deal with that Canada has a long-standing tradition of helping nations that are in need," Jaffer said.

Harper and his government have taken the line that Israel's attacks on Lebanon are a "measured" response to attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas. That stance has resulted in harsh criticism from many in Canada's Lebanese community and frontrunners in the Liberal leadership race.

Jaffer said he expects to see a shift in the polls once the Tories "have a chance to clarify our position."

The Decima poll shows the Liberals widened their Ontario lead to 42 per cent of voter support compared with 33 per cent for the Conservatives, and have pulled in front of the Tories in Quebec for the first time since last winter's campaign. The two parties had been neck-and-neck in Ontario as recently as mid-June.

"When we look at the combination of the alignment of the government with the current U.S. administration policy on the Middle East — and in particular with respect to the Lebanon-Israel conflict — it's reasonable to assume it's one of the factors that's driving Conservative support down in the near term," said Decima CEO Bruce Anderson.

"They clearly are encountering some pushback from voters in Ontario and Quebec in particular."

Liberals have also taken the lead in crucial urban ridings by a margin of 35 per cent versus 29 per cent, and are increasingly preferred by women and by voters aged 25 to 34, the poll suggests.

The poll of 1,000 Canadians, taken July 27 to 31, is considered accurate to within three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The margin of error is higher for regional breakdowns.