Checking in

The year-end polling averages for 2012 and what three years of polling looks like.

Separately, Eric Grenier looks at some of the NDP’s numbers in the latest Ipsos survey.

Canadians gave Mulcair a 44 per cent approval rating, with 56 per cent disapproving of his performance as leader of the opposition. That compares favourably with Harper, who managed a 45 per cent approval rating in the same poll. Yet, just 14 per cent of Canadians “strongly” disapprove of Mulcair’s performance, roughly half the number the prime minister registered. Not surprisingly, Mulcair’s best and worst scores were in Quebec and Alberta, with a 64 per cent approval rating in the former and a 69 per cent disapproval in the latter. But Mulcair also scored 68 per cent disapproval in British Columbia, a province in which the New Democrats need to make gains if they are to challenge the Conservatives for government in 2015.

A large proportion of Canadians think the NDP is up to the job. While a majority (55 per cent) disagreed that “the NDP is ready to be Canada’s next government,” the 45 per cent who did agree are more than enough to give the New Democrats a huge majority government.