OTTAWA - A new poll suggests the federal Conservatives have put some distance between themselves and the sagging Liberal party.
The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey indicates a seven-percentage-point spread between Prime Minister Stephen Harper's governing Tories and Stephane Dion's opposition Grits.
The poll of just more than 1,000 Canadians last Thursday through Sunday put Conservative support at 35 per cent nationally.
The Liberals slipped to 28 per cent among decided and leaning voters as three weeks of very public recriminations and infighting apparently took their toll.
It's bad news for Dion amid rumblings of a possible fall election should the opposition bring down the government by voting against next week's throne speech.
But it's not all good news for Harper. The poll suggests he is still unable to win enough support for a majority government, with his party one point below what it achieved on election day in 2006.
The NDP polled 17 per cent nationally, the Green party was at 10 per cent and the Bloc Quebecois was at eight per cent.
Pollster Bruce Anderson says the survey is especially problematic for the Liberals in Quebec, where support fell to just 14 per cent. The Bloc had 35 per cent support in Quebec and the Conservatives polled 26 per cent.
The Greens in Quebec had the support of 12 per cent and the New Democrats of 11 per cent.
The national numbers in the survey are considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.
