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A majority of Canadians do not want to see Liberal Leader Stephane Dion become prime minister, finds a new national public opinion poll.

The poll, conducted by The Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail, finds that Dion is not connecting with Canadians, especially in his home province of Quebec.

Overall, only 20 per cent of those polled wanted Dion, who was elected to lead the Liberals just six months ago, to become prime minister. Fifty-two per cent polled said they didn't want him in the country's top job. Twenty-eight per cent had no opinion.

The poll didn't ask about any of the other federal leaders.

Dion responded to the results Tuesday by saying polls are "like tides -- they come and they go."

"It's very difficult for Canadians to assess the leader of the opposition before a general election," Dion, a federal politician for 10 years, told Â鶹ӰÊÓnet's Mike Duffy Live.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Leader Jack Layton have been through two general elections as leader; Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe even more.

"I am new," said Dion.

"I think more and more Canadians will learn about me and they will be more confident about what I want to do for my country to make my country richer, fairer, greener and to have an independent voice for Canada in the world."

Dion saw his strongest disapproval rating in Quebec, where 58 per cent of those surveyed said they didn't want him as prime minister. Only 18 per cent threw their support behind him and 23 per cent had no opinion.

In Ontario, Dion garnered 23 per cent support compared with 48 per cent who said no. Twenty-nine per cent had no opinion.

In the West, Dion had 17 per cent support, 53 per cent who said no and 30 per cent who had no opinion.

"His problem is like all leaders of the opposition; they are always challenged by the perception that they're not really on the radar," Tim Woolstencroft, managing partner of The Strategic Counsel, told CTV.ca.

"Between elections, it's the government's agenda. It's a challenge for the leader of the opposition to get attention and be considered a legitimate candidate for the prime ministership."

Former Liberal leader Jean Chretien, who won three straight majorities, had the same problem in the 1990-91 period, Woolstencroft noted. "People aren't focused on (leadership) until they get into the writ period. Elections matter."

The low ratings come as the Conservatives have been running a new round of attack ads targeting Dion.

Other poll findings

Despite the various controversies at the federal level in recent weeks, the numbers have barely budged (percentage point change from a May 14-17 poll in brackets):

• Conservatives - 34 per cent (unchanged)
• Liberals - 31 per cent (unchanged)
• NDP - 13 per cent (-3)
• Bloc Quebecois - 11 per cent (+1)
• Greens - 11 per cent (+2)

The Conservatives remain in second place behind the Liberals in Quebec (where the Bloc leads everyone) and Ontario. The Tories are still the dominant party in western Canada.

"The landscape really hasn't shifted. In fact, it really hasn't shifted since the government got elected," Woolstencroft said.

While turmoil over the Atlantic Accord and Afghan detainees might have grabbed headlines recently, "clearly it hasn't affected the electorate in any measurable way," he said.

On Tuesday, the government released a plan to speed up land claims negotiations.

The move came as the poll found that 43 per cent of Canadians believe "the federal government is simply stalling and does not really want to make a deal because of the land and money involved."

Thirty-eight per cent believed that "land claim negotiations are complicated and a great deal of money and land is at stake and that this is why the negotiations are taking so long."

Another 19 per cent didn't know or otherwise didn't respond.

In Ontario, where the Caledonia dispute has dragged on, there is near-majority support for the notion Ottawa is stalling on land claims, Woolstencroft said.

Native leaders are planning for a national day of protest on June 29 that will target railway lines. The protest is in part over stalled land claims.

The respondents generally favoured a law and order response.

Fifty-five per cent said the protest wasn't justified, compared to 37 per cent who did. Fifty per cent said the government should prosecute those carrying out blockades, versus 34 per cent who thought they should just accept the blockades as a negotiating tactic and allow them to happen.

Quebecers were most approving of a law-and-order response, with 59 per cent supporting the get-tough option.

"People believe in civil order," Woolstencroft said. "But again, there's a third of the public who thinks (native protesters) should be managed in a delicate way."

Technical notes

• The poll was conducted by The Strategic Counsel for CTV and The Globe and Mail.
• Interviews were conducted between June 8 and 11, 2007.
• Results are based on tracking among a proportionate national sample of Canadians 18 years of age or older.
• One thousand people were surveyed.
• The national margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
• The Quebec sample size is 247, with a 6.3 percentage point margin of error.
• The Ontario sample size is 379, making for a 5.0 percentage point margin of error.