Liberals blast NDP over poll

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This article was published 19/08/2019 (2451 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Liberals are questioning the veracity of a new poll placing the Progressive Conservatives and NDP in a dead heat — and they are blaming the NDP.

In a news release issued Saturday, the Liberals said the company, Converso, has never run a poll before because its line of business has been running town halls for unions and the NDP.

Liberals say the poll, which was cited by the CBC and others, has a number of red flags.

“The company’s website does not identify who owns, runs or works at the company,” the news release states. “The poll is supposed to have been “uncommissioned” — which is to say nobody paid for it. The fact that Converso doesn’t disclose who runs their company, much less the owner’s connections to the NDP, shows they have something to hide.”

They say the Manitoba NDP, London, Ont.-based Converso and Converso’s owner, Carl Mavromichalis, need to answer questions about the poll.

The uncommissioned poll, which surveyed 1,127 Manitobans between July 28 and Aug. 7, found 30 per cent of respondents said they would vote NDP and 31 per cent PC heading into the Sept. 10 election.

Another 11 per cent said they intend to vote Liberal; six per cent said they would go with the Green party while another six per cent chose not to say. Fifteen per cent remain undecided and one per cent said they would vote for another party altogether.

The interactive voice response poll was the first public opinion research survey conducted by Converso.

A biography on Converso’s website says, “Before founding Converso, Carl (Mavromichalis) was a senior associate with a leading political consulting firm where he was involved in a wide array of client VYH projects, the Government of Manitoba, the Government of Alberta, Alberta’s Royalty Review, Ontario Power Generation, the City of St. Catharines, and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.”

The Liberals note the “leading political consulting firm” was Stratcom — a company that runs election services for NDP candidates, non-profits and unions. Stratcom’s services include voter engagement, data collection and fundraising, and Stratcom’s website shows its clients included the Federal NDP, LeadNow and the Canadian Labour Congress.

“This is a shameful attempt on the part of the NDP to manipulate Manitobans and it is just one more reason why Manitoba Liberals are the only progressive option in this campaign,” the Liberals said in their news release.

In an email sent out to media on Saturday, Mavromichalis wrote, “It has come to my attention that there is an issue with the weighting of the survey results that we released yesterday (Friday) regarding the Manitoba election.

“We are working diligently to address this issue. It is unclear if the weighting issue will impact the results.

“We will be carefully reviewing the data and aim to provide an update within 48 hours, but will be taking the time necessary to ensure the results are accurate.

“We plan to re-issue the findings as soon as possible, if any discrepancies are found. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused.”

A Manitoba Liberal party spokesman declined to elaborate Saturday on the party’s charges.

“I just direct you back to the press release and we’re going to leave it there,” said Sachit Mehra, the party’s election-readiness co-chair to whom the Sun was referred by the media-relations spokesman.

“I don’t have any further comments on it,” he said. “Suffice to say that, you know, for us we’re just focused on Manitobans, and we will be focused on Manitobans for the next few weeks as we go into the election day.”

Brandon East NDP candidate Lonnie Patterson referred comment to the party’s press secretary, who then sent an audio clip to The Sun from a scrum with reporters on Saturday.

NDP campaign spokeswoman Erin Selby told reporters she is not aware of any ties between the NDP and the polling company.

However, she said, “It’s unfortunate that the Liberals are attacking unions and the fact that they want to get (that) information out to their members … we are running a positive campaign.”

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