Liberals see surge of support in Manitoba: Poll

Well, the race is officially on, in just five week’s time Canadians will head to the polls to elect our country’s next Prime Minister. 

While Manitoba and its 14 ridings may not decide this election, recent polling numbers in the province are showing a massive surge in support for the Liberals and newly minted Prime Minister Mark Carney.

“It’s almost the complete opposite of what we thought was going to happen,” said Mary Agnes Welch, Principal with Probe Research.

In their most recent survey Probe research illustrated a dramatic swing in support for the Liberals in the province. Most specifically in Winnipeg, where 54 per cent said they would support the Liberals, up a staggering 30 points since December.

“In Manitoba, in my time. Looking at politics and covering politics I can’t remember as big a shift,” explained Welch.

Welch says the red wave comes down to a number of factors from Trudeau’s resignation to Trump’s tariffs, and the intrigue surrounding a new face in the race.

“Who would have thought the liberals would be the new fresh thing but Mark Carney is, and Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh are a little bit out of step with how we are feeling right now.”

This brings us to the million-dollar question, will this momentum last until election day on April 28th?  Welch stresses the margin for error will be slim, and will likely come down to which party does a better job of hitting the ground and drumming up support amongst their base. 

“It’s whether the Liberals and Tories can get our butts to the advanced polls and election day, and that is one advantage the Tories still have, their ground game, their funding and local organizations are better,” said Welch.