Most Canadians want change, poll shows – even if it means a minority government

WATCH ABOVE: NDP leader Tom Mulcair took a break from campaigning Thursday, as most polls show he is in a tight three-way race with the Liberals and the Conservatives. The risk for Mulcair and Trudeau is that they split the vote, and Stephen Harper ends up winning again, raising the question of how many Canadians will vote strategically just to keep the Tories out of power. Eric Sorensen reports.

Who’s afraid of a big, bad minority government?

Not most Canadians, according to a new poll Ipsos conducted for Global News.

The poll found two-thirds of the 2,022 Canadians surveyed think it’s time for a change in federal government. And almost 63 per cent of them would support “co-operation” between the Liberals and NDP if the October 19th election resulted in a minority government.

That’s a significant shift from four years ago, when Conservative leader Stephen Harper’s mantra boosting a “strong, stable Conservative majority” gained more traction, and only 46 per cent of Canadians supported co-operation between the opposition parties to replace the Tories.

“The desire for change is quite high. And people are prepared to look at non-traditional solutions to this issue,” said Ipsos CEO Darrell Bricker.

“People don’t feel the same level of risk associated with … a combined progressive option.”

Bricker said they used the phrase “co-operation” rather than asking Canadians about a coalition, specifically, because party co-operation in the event of a minority government “could take many forms.”

But he said it’s significant that Canadians aren’t scared of various outcomes of a minority government.

“The challenge for the Conservatives is to recreate the fear and the sense of risk,” he said.

“And the challenge of the other parties is to try and come up with something that doesn’t look like its scary.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The challenge for the Conservatives is to recreate the fear and the sense of risk," he said.</p><p>"And the challenge of the other parties is to try and come up with something that doesn't look like its scary."

Breaking the poll results down regionally, even Tory-supportive Alberta leans toward a change in government:

The question may come down to the kind of change voters are looking for, Bricker said. The three parties are still extremely close and it doesn’t appear anyone’s campaign message has made much of an impact on polls.

READ MORE: NDP lead continues to hold across Canada, according to latest seat projections

And Bricker notes that the Tories are still ahead when it comes to the issue most people think is most important — the economy.

“There’s a long way to go, and there’s a lot of contradictions to sort out,” he said.

Exclusive Global News Ipsos polls are protected by copyright. The information and/or data may only be rebroadcast or republished with full and proper credit and attribution to “Global News Ipsos.” This poll was conducted between August 7 and August 10, with a sample of 2,022 Canadians, from Ipsos’ online panel as well as by live-interview telephone. The poll reported above is accurate to within 2.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Raw poll results: