Poll: Canadian voters think economy first

OTTAWA, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Party allegiance has taken a back seat to economic concerns among Canadian voters less than a week away from an election, a poll published Thursday indicated.

The telephone survey of 1,201 Canadian voters conducted last weekend by Nanos Research for Sun Media found economics had overtaken traditional party loyalty by a single point.

The poll found 27 percent of voters plan to vote for the party they feel can best shepherd the economy through difficult times, while 26 percent said they would vote for the party whose overall views are most aligned to their own, the Ottawa Sun reported.

The poll found 11 percent of those surveyed are voting for the party they always vote for, which pollster Nik Nanos said offered the five federal parties a large pool of swing votes in next Tuesday's election.

Just 13 percent of voters asked said they were voting for the strongest party leader. Under Canada's political system, votes are cast only for local representatives, and the majority's leader becomes prime minister.

The poll had a 2.8 percent margin of error, the Sun said.