OTTAWA - A new poll suggests Prime Minister Stephen Harper has won few converts in Atlantic Canada for his equalization policies.
The survey by Decima Research suggests that a 69 per cent of people in the region side with the premiers of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador on this issue, with only six per cent taking Harper's side.
Pollster Bruce Anderson says the numbers also suggest that Harper isn't making headway on this issue in the rest of the country either.
He says only a minority of Canadians say they really understand the complex equalization debate, but there's still a tendency to side with the poorer provinces.
Anderson said Harper's best bet might be to keep a low profile on the whole question.
The survey interviewed just over 1,000 people between June 21-24 and its national findings are considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
