Downed Conservatives tops in poll

TORONTO, March 26 (UPI) -- A day after the minority Canadian Conservative government was voted down in Parliament, a poll published Saturday showed it had a healthy popularity lead.

The online Angus Reid poll of 2,365 adults nationwide conducted for the Toronto Star and Montreal's La Presse newspaper Wednesday and Thursday showed Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives had 39 percent support.

Michael Ignatieff's Liberals had 25 percent support and the socialist New Democratic Party under Jack Layton had 19 percent.

The separatist Bloc Quebecois, which only represents Quebec, was favored by 10 percent of respondents and the Green Party had 7 percent support, the poll showed.

The three opposition parties voted down the minority Conservatives Friday on a confidence motion, triggering an election, which Harper announced Saturday would be held May 2.

Pollster Jaideep Mukerji said that political move could prove to be costly for the opposition parties.

"The Tories (Conservatives) are knocking at the door of a majority," he said. "What's worrying for Michael Ignatieff is that his image is still really quite weak, especially compared to the other leaders."

The poll had a margin of error of 2 percentage points, the Star said.