(EKOS)

Canadians have a clear desire for a majority government but are almost evenly split when asked whether it should be headed by the Conservatives or the Liberals, a new poll suggests.

The EKOS poll, commissioned for the CBC and released Thursday, asked which of the following outcomes of the next federal election "would be best":

• Liberal minority.
• Liberal majority.
• Conservative minority.
• Conservative majority.
• None of the above.

Nationally, 26 per cent of those polled said they wanted a Liberal majority, while 25 per cent called for a Conservative majority. An equal amount — 25 per cent — responded with "none of the above."

Fifteen per cent of those polled called for a Liberal minority and nine per cent said the best result would be a Conservative minority.

"Canadians seem to have had their fill of minority governments and would like to return to the good old days of stable majorities," said EKOS president Frank Graves. "However, neither of the leading parties is anywhere near achieving that."

Tory-Liberal deadlock

The tight race between the governing minority Conservatives and the opposition Liberals continued into the summer as those surveyed were asked which of the five main parties they would vote for if a federal election were held tomorrow.

The Conservatives eked out the top spot at 32.8 per cent, with the Liberals hot on their heels at 32.5 per cent, according to the poll. The NDP were third at 14.8 per cent, the Greens fourth at 11.5 per cent and the Bloc Québécois at 8.4 per cent.

When asked which party would be their second choice if a federal election was held tomorrow, the Liberal party emerged on top at 22.1 per cent, with the NDP in second place at 19.7 per cent.

The Green party was third at 14.1 per cent and the Conservative party was next with 13.2 per cent. The BQ had 4.1 per cent.

However, 26.8 per cent of those polled said they had no second choice.

The poll was completed between July 15 and 21 and included a random sample of 3,158 Canadians aged 18 or older. It's the eighth in a series of weekly polls conducted by EKOS and released by CBC News.

The margin of error for a survey of this size is plus or minus 1.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

(EKOS)