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Canadian PM's ratings plummet

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, facing the threat of an election soon, saw his minority Liberal government's approval rating fall sharply this week despite being cleared in a major political funding scandal, according to a new poll.

The latest Ipsos-Reid data published on Friday put the Liberals at 30 percent, neck-and-neck with the opposition Conservatives who have gained four points to register 31 percent.

If an election were held now, the Liberals, who have only 133 of 308 seats in the House of Commons, would likely lose and the Conservatives would form the next government, the results suggest.

Liberal support is down seven percent after a judicial investigation exonerated Martin on Tuesday, but criticized his predecessor, Jean Chretien over the diversion of more than US$85 million to friendly associates of the Liberal Party during Chretien's administration.

Martin was finance minister at the time but the report said he had no control over funds directed by the prime minister's office. The report, which assigned no civil or criminal culpability, instead found Chretien was ultimately responsible for the scandal.

Opposition parties, making no distinction between the Martin and Chretien camps who were often at odds, pressed the "corrupt Liberal government" to resign this week, but Martin held firm on a promise to hold an election 30 days after Justice John Gomery releases his final report on the scandal in February.

Some 54 percent of people polled said the Liberals did not deserve to be re-elected and 50 percent said the opposition parties should try to force an election immediately.
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