Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and his wife, Laureen, leave a news conference after the English-language debate in Ottawa on April 12, 2011.GEOFF ROBINS/AFP / Getty Images
Canadians are most concerned about health care in this campaign, identifying it day after day as the top issue - even more so than the economy, according to the latest daily Nanos Research poll.
In addition, Stephen Harper continues his dominance over his opponents when it comes to approval for his leadership. He scored 94.9, up slightly from 94 on Monday when his numbers took a nosedive, likely as a result f the leaked draft Auditor-General's report on the G8 spending.
Pollster Nik Nanos says the latest result suggests "the Harper drop of the A-G report controversy has stabilized."
Before Monday, the Conservative Leader scored 110 on the Nanos index, which tracks voter responses daily to questions about which party leaders scores best on questions of trust, competence and vision.
Mr. Harper's two national rivals are trailing far behind, although they have made modest gains. NDP Leader Jack Layton has a score of 57.1, up from 54.1 on April 11; Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's score is 49.6, up from 48.4. However, Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe has dropped significantly over one day - to 14.4 on Tuesday from 20.7 on Monday.
And Mr. Nanos cautions that we'll have to wait until the end of the week for the numbers to tell the real story of the debates.
As for the issues, the Nanos tracking shows 33.4 per cent of Canadians pick health care as their top issue of concern. Health care was debated Tuesday night by the four leaders and is gradually emerging as an issue for them.
It had not been really discussed in the first week of the campaign. But Mr. Nanos notes that it has continued to "trend up for the third day in a row."
Jobs and the economy follow health care as the most important national issue of concern, with 21.7 per cent singling them out compared to 6.7 per cent who are concerned about education. High taxes comes fourth and fifth is the environment with just 4.2 per cent of Canadians saying the issue concerns them most.
And Mr. Nanos cautions that we'll have to wait until the end of the week for the numbers to tell the real story of the debates.
As for the issues, the Nanos tracking shows 33.4 per cent of Canadians pick health care as their top issue of concern. Health care was debated Tuesday night by the four leaders and is gradually emerging as an issue for them.
It had not been really discussed in the first week of the campaign. But Mr. Nanos notes that it has continued to "trend up for the third day in a row."
Jobs and the economy follow health care as the most important national issue of concern, with 21.7 per cent singling them out compared to 6.7 per cent who are concerned about education. High taxes comes fourth and fifth is the environment with just 4.2 per cent of Canadians saying the issue concerns them most.