The poll numbers showing the NDP moving into almost a tie with the Liberals, may have bolstered party spirits but it’s having no effect on the local candidate.
“I’m not going to respond to polls. It’s all speculation. The only one that counts is the one on election day,” says Craig Speirs.
CTV’s Nanos national telephone poll that takes opinion nightly showed the Liberals on Monday with 25.6 per cent, with the NDP just below at 23.6 per cent and the Conservatives at 39 per cent.
In Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission however, Conservatives are way out in front.
According to another poll on the Project Democracy website, Randy Kamp is in a solid first place with a projected 24,513 votes – versus 17,732 for Speirs while the Liberals are projected to earn 4,630.
Green candidate Peter Tam is supposed to win 3,169 votes under Project Democracy’s system that combines past results with current polling to project election night numbers.
The support on the doorsteps however is encouraging for Speirs, also a member of Maple Ridge council.
“They like my level of experience (in politics). That seems to give them some level of comfort.”
He says the political climate is different in 2011 compared to the last federal election in 2008 and many voters don’t like the current prime minister.