The Yukon Liberal Party is continuing to lose support, according to the latest DataPath Systems poll.

The party has dropped to just 15 per cent support from 39 per cent a year ago, the polling data suggest.

Support for the NDP and Yukon party, on the other hand, is growing.

The Yukon Party has jumped to 40 per cent approval, while the NDP would have 35 per cent of Yukoners' support if an election was held today.

"The most surprising results for me was the fact that the NDP and the Yukon Party continue to grow in terms of who people vote for, but for overall satisfaction, numbers are not jumping at the same rate,” Donna Larsen, a partner in DataPath Systems, told the Star this morning.

Among the three parties, the Yukon Party shows the highest degree of voter satisfaction, with 26 per cent.

This compares to only 13 per cent for the NDP and 10 per cent for the Liberal Party.

Larsen has concluded there are a couple reasons for the drop in Liberal Party support.

"People want to see tangible things connected to the party for solutions,” said Larsen.

"People know where the NDP and Yukon Party stand. The Liberal party is saying they want balance, which is by all means what Yukoners want, but the party doesn't seem to have an actual platform for that.”

Larsen thinks the plunge in support is due to the Liberals' performance in the May 2 federal election.

"When the party crashed at the federal level, it spilled over into the territorial level, as well,” she said.

These poll results are a "good wake-up call” for the Liberal party, Larsen said.

She did, though, emphasize the results shouldn't be taken out of context.

"This is how it is right now. It doesn't say anything about next week, next month, or when people go to the polls,” she said.

Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell said this morning he doesn't comment on poll results.

"The only thing I can say is I believe at the end of the day, the poll that matters happens on election day,” he said. "People are not going to make their decision based on poll results.”

DataPath Systems surveyed 424 Yukoners – 279 in Whitehorse and 145 in rural areas.

Larsen explained that she calculates party support by asking the question: If a Yukon election was called today, what party leader would you vote for?

Larsen thinks the Yukon Party's change in leadership is giving it a boost. Voter support started to rise in April, just as then-leader and premier Dennis Fentie announced his decision to step down. Support rose again in July, she said.

"Yukoners like to vote people out of power,” said Larsen. "But if they don't know the person well enough to find any problems, that's a good position for a party to be in.”

The Yukon Party hovered at a low of 22 per cent support in July 2010, but was able to increase to 32 per cent in April 2011 and is now up to 40 per cent under the new leadership of Darrell Pasloski, said Larsen.

"But this does not mean the election will be a walk in the park either,” she said.

"While the Yukon Party is definitely seeing an increase in support, the NDP is also up.

"And at the same time, satisfaction with the party is not seeing the same increases. This indicates an increase in party support, but it is tentative, and could still be influenced with the amount of time remaining before the election.”

Jonas Smith, the Yukon Party's president, told the Star this morning that Yukoners are ready to "get involved.

"The reality is, we've got 2,800 members all of the sudden. That's10 times more than we had a year ago,” said Smith. "The Yukon is in a pretty good state, and people want to keep it that way.”

Smith said the past spring's leadership race also helped build support and interest for the party.

The NDP has seen increases from 26 per cent in July 2010 to 35 per cent in July 2011.

Seven per cent of Yukoners are looking for a Green Party solution. Those voters may be more likely to switch to the NDP or Liberals if no Green Party candidate is available in their riding, said Larsen.

"It will all come down to the riding candidates, as 60 per cent of voters also reported that they are not 100 per cent sure about who they will vote for at this time,” continued Larsen.

This was the first time DataPath Systems asked this question, and Larsen said she is unsure whether this is a surprising statistic.

Demographics continue to play a role in the party preference, with those over the age of 50, male, and employed in the private sector more likely to support the Yukon Party.

Government workers, females, and those under age 35 are more likely to support the NDP.

The economy was the number one issue facing the Yukon in 2009, but has now dropped to number four.

The environment, which was the top issue in 2010 and early 2011, is now to the second ranking issue – second to housing.

The visual impact of the lack of housing in the Yukon has driven that to the number one slot, said Larsen.

Poor government, which was as high as 19 per cent in 2009, has dropped to eight per cent.

Larsen said that a lot can still happen before this fall's election, which must be called by mid-October.

"I'm not calling it done by any means,” she said.

Larsen plans to conduct another poll once an election date is confirmed.

DataPath Systems is an independent Yukon-based market research company. Telephone surveys were conducted between July 17 and July 25.

The data are weighted to accurately represent Yukoners based on the community they live in, their age and gender.

Percentages are statistically valid to +/- 4.7 per cent, 19 times out of 20 (95 per cent confidence).

A poll the company did during the federal campaign gave then-Liberal incumbent Larry Bagnell a huge lead.

On May 2, however, Yukoners elected Conservative Ryan Leef.

By Nadine Sander-Green

Star Reporter