Prime Minister Stephen Harper scores a higher job approval rating than his political rival, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, according to a new poll, but both had more negative than positive evaluations from Canadians who were asked about their performance.

Although a larger proportion of people disapprove of Harper's job performance compared with Ignatieff's, Harper’s disapproval ratings have slowly declined since January, while Ignatieff’s have shot up.

The EKOS poll, commissioned by the CBC and released Thursday, asked Canadians if they approve or disapprove of the way Harper, Ignatieff and NDP Leader Jack Layton are handling their jobs.

Harper received a 36 per cent approval rating, followed by Layton (34 per cent) and Ignatieff (29 per cent). Conversely, 47 per cent said they disapprove of Harper’s job performance, with Ignatieff getting a 38 per cent disapproval rating and Layton 33 per cent.

That means the net positive scores are worse for Harper (-11) than for Ignatieff (-9).

However, Ignatieff’s disapproval rating has gone from 20 per cent in January, to almost 40 per cent in August, basically doubling in seven months.

In the electoral battleground province of Ontario, where Ignatieff is hoping to recapture seats, the poll showed Harper’s approval rating is 38 per cent, compared with Ignatieff (32 per cent). But Harper’s disapproval rate is also higher than Ignatieff (46 per cent versus 38 per cent)

In Quebec, Harper’s disapproval rating is higher than in any other region, standing at 58 per cent with an approval rating of 21 per cent. Ignatieff fares better, but his disapproval rating (32 per cent) is still higher than his approval rating (29 per cent) in the province.

One political leader, however, soars above all the rest in the opinion of Canadian poll respondents: U.S. President Barack Obama.

The poll found that the president got a 73 per cent job approval rating from Canadians, with only 11 per cent disapproving of his performance.

The survey of 2,985 people was conducted between Aug. 5 and Aug. 11, 2009, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

(EKOS)