Public Polls

June 13, 2013: The Province
Voters feared NDP, left-wing gov't in charge of the economy: Pollster

Pollster Greg Lyle says his postelection surveys show voters did indeed want change — but didn't want it badly enough to take a chance on Adrian Dix and the NDP. In a new survey, Lyle's Innovative Research Group concluded "time-for-a-change" voters actually formed the foundation of the Liberals' upset victory. "The Liberals won just over half of this group (52 per cent) and they provided 25 per cent of the Liberal votes on election day," the pollster concluded. Why did voters who wanted change stick with the governing party? Because they "were more afraid of the NDP than the Liberals," the survey said.

The Province article Summary

June 10, 2013: The Globe and Mail
Are Canadians moved by big oil's ad campaigns?

The question is, are Canadians moved by the pictures and words paid for by big Canadian oil? Greg Lyle, managing director of Innovative Research Group Inc. – a Toronto-based public affairs and corporate communications firm that counts a number of energy companies among its clients – believes there's some potential to move "the mushy middle" of Canadian public opinion.

The Globe and Mail article Summary Factum

June 7, 2013: The Globe and Mail
Christy Clark's transition plan begins in earnest

Pollster Greg Lyle, a former B.C. Liberal campaign manager, said his post-election research shows a need for Ms. Clark to demonstrate change to hold on to the support of the so-called 10-second Liberals – a key segment of voters to whom she owes her victory. Those are the voters who were not in the Liberal camp at the beginning of the election campaign, but were won over by the Premier's strong economic message. Mr. Lyle's firm, Innovative Research, conducted a survey between May 22 and 31, with a sample of 648 British Columbians, to find out what drove voters to make the decisions they did – and when.

The Globe and Mail article Summary

June 6, 2013: Policy Magazine
Canadians Conflicted on Canada as an Energy Superpower

As this edition of Policy demonstrates, energy has become a central issue in Canada’s national political debate. The Harper government sees energy exports as critical to Canada’s economic wellbeing, and is determined to improve access to the global market. The leader of the Official Opposition, Thomas Mulcair, has focused more on Canadian energy security, minimizing our environmental footprint and increasing domestic value-added. Somewhere in the middle there is Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party. While it is still the early days in Trudeau’s leadership, he has come out opposing Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, he expressed interest in possibilities of shipping bitumen to refineries in Eastern Canada and, more recently, he has indicated support of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Policy Magazine article Summary Factum

May 27, 2013: Spacing
Skeptcism on revenue tools

As for the revenue tools themselves, the poll — conducted earlier this month by Innovative Research Group* — revealed that residents were most likely to favour four sorts of taxes — development charges, parking space levies, HOT lanes, and highway tolls — over all the other mechanisms floated by the regional agency earlier this spring. Those four, some of which have turned up as top choices in other recent polls, are the only ones on Metrolinx’s short-list to merit “net positive support,” meaning the total number of respondents in favour exceeds those opposed.

Spacing article Summary

May 15, 2013: The Globe and Mail
Ontario NDP is losing support amid budget talks, new polls suggest

A new survey provided to The Globe and Mail by Innovative Research Group, conducted in the week after the budget was tabled on May 2, shows the Liberals holding a lead among decided voters for the first time in nearly a year, with 37-per-cent support. While Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives trail with 30 per cent, pollster Greg Lyle said the Liberals’ gains came mostly at the expense of the New Democrats, who came in at 25 per cent.

The Globe and Mail article Summary Factum

April 25, 2013: Innovative Research Group
What are the implications of BCs changing demographics and values on potential turnout in BC?

In a democracy, power is given to those who show up. Not voting has consequences. If parties don’t count your votes, they don’t count your opinions. Chinese and younger British Columbians have been counting for less because they have not been showing up to be counted on election day.

INNOVATIVE asked 600 members of the general public in a survey conducted in English, 200 Chinese-speaking BC voters and 100 Punjabi-speaking BC voters how likely they are to vote in the upcoming election and whether they feel voting is a duty or an individual choice. Using these responses, we explore differences in intended turnout by age and ethnicity and ask if these differences are permanent due to value changes or if there is a potential for turnout to return to higher levels.

130425_BCO Turnout Factum.pdf

February 6, 2013:
Maritime union not likely any time soon

A third of Nova Scotians support the idea of a political union among the Maritime provinces, according to a new poll. Innovative Research Group, a national polling firm, asked 533 Nova Scotians what they thought of the idea of merging Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island – 54 per cent said they were opposed and 36 per cent said they supported the idea. (The rest didn’t know.) Pollster Greg Lyle says the telephone survey shows the idea of a union is a “hard sell,” but he adds that “the fact that more than a third of Nova Scotians support Maritime union without much of a case being made says the idea is not dead on arrival.”

Summary The Globe and Mail article

January 31, 2013:
Early Signs Positive for Wynne

Rumours of the death of the Ontario Liberal party appear to have been exaggerated. Innovative Research Group (INNOVATIVE) has surveyed 446 randomly selected Ontarians by telephone from Sunday through Tuesday night to assess the potential impact of the Ontario Liberal party’s new Leader, Kathleen Wynne. Our key findings include the following:
- Initial reactions to Wynne are positive
- The Liberal brand shows potential
- Liberals edge Tories, in a statistical tie for first
- Gay issue not a major concern

Press Release Summary The Star article

January 31, 2013: The Star
Kathleen Wynne puts Liberals in dead heat with NDP, Tories

“One thing Dalton McGuinty did very effectively when he left is he took the anger with him,” Greg Lyle, managing director of Innovative Research Group, said Wednesday.

The Star article