High number of voters undecided
Suburban poll
A Suburban poll of Mount Royal federal riding constituents shows Conservative candidate Robert Libman leading Liberal candidate Anthony Housefather and NDP candidate Mario Jacinto Rimbao amongst decided voters. But the poll also revealed a tremendously high percentage of undecided voters in the two areas of the riding.
The Suburban visited the shopping area of Town of Mount Royal, the Van Horne Shopping Centre and the surrounding area on Victoria Avenue, where we spoke to people representing a wide mix of ethnic groups; and Quartier Cavendish in Côte St. Luc.
Of all those spoken to by The Suburban, 37 percent supported Libman, 24 per cent supported Housefather, 9 per cent supported Rimbao, and one per cent each supported the Bloc Québécois and Green Party. But fully 28 per cent were undecided.
The highest amount of undecided voters were in Town of Mount Royal (42 per cent) and Côte des Neiges (33 per cent). The lowest were in Côte St. Luc and Hampstead (9 per cent), where the vast majority of respondents were intending to vote Conservative. The Suburban also found in this area that Harper was specifically named as the recipient of their support.
Here is a sampling of responses from those spoken to by The Suburban.
In TMR:
“Harper knows how to balance the budget,” said a Conservative supporter. “He got us out of the terrible mess the Liberals got us into.”
“Harper makes more sense than Mulcair or Trudeau,” said another Harper supporter. “The Conservatives did a good job through bad economic times.”
“I listened to him talk,” said a Housefather supporter. “He didn’t falter, presented himself well, and his arguments made sense.”
The undecided voters in TMR either have not followed the issues to this point, or are waiting until election day to fully evaluate the parties’ policies.
One francophone voter in TMR remains torn between the NDP and Bloc, saying she is conflicted between NDP policies and the Bloc’s opposition to the wearing of the face-covering niqabs while taking the citizenship oath.
‘The niqab is a real mask,” the voter said.
In Côte des Neiges:
“Let’s give young Trudeau a chance,” said a Liberal supporter.
“There’s no reason to change,” said a Harper supporter.
“Trudeau all the way,” said a Liberal supporter.
A Bloc supporter said she was influenced by the niqab issue.
“I believe in socialism,” said an NDP supporter.
Many in this area cannot vote because they are not yet citizens—they were not counted in our numbers.
In Côte St. Luc/Hampstead:
“I love him!” said a Harper supporter.
“I can’t imagine Trudeau dealing with someone like {Russian leader] Vladimir Putin,” said another Harper supporter. “My issues include Israel, Harper’s experience, the economy and the tax free savings account.”
“If Housefather was going Conservative, I’d vote for him, but I don’t want Trudeau,” said another Harper supporter.
“I like the Conservatives, but I prefer Housefather,” said a Housefather supporter.
