After riding an all-time high in the polls this past spring, support for the ruling Yukon Party took a 14-per-cent nose dive, and it now trails the Opposition Liberals.

Results from a June 20 DataPath Systems poll were released today.

They put the Liberals ahead with 34 per cent support, while support for the Yukon Party is down to 33 per cent from 47 per cent in April.

"I've had a policy for a long time that I just don't comment on polls no matter which way they look," Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell told the Star.

"The poll that matters is on election day and hopefully they'll remember what's happened over the last three weeks."

Those who would vote for the Yukon NDP, were an election held tomorrow, rose four points to 20 per cent.

These figures come from a survey of 341 Yukon voters, 26 per cent of whom remain undecided.

As there is currently no Green Party in territorial politics, its backers should note that out of the 74 per cent of decided voters, 13 per cent chose "other".

While more Yukoners feel better off financially than they did last year, DataPath pollster Donna Larsen said those numbers did not translate into continued nor increased support for the party in power.

"Yukoners are feeling that they can deal with this recession OK, and yet they aren't giving that credit to the current government, which is typically what happens," Larsen said.

But the pollster said the Opposition Liberals and third party NDPers should not view new support as the result of their own making.

"The people who were deciding to go Liberal were making that decision because they didn't like the current government," Larsen said

"So people are voting against the Yukon Party now, rather than for any of the other parties."

For the past several weeks, Premier Dennis Fentie has taken heat for meddling in Peel watershed conservation efforts and for conducting secret negotiations with ATCO to privatize the territory's public utility.

Both matters and the government's handling of them have not played out well in the court of public opinion and in the case of privatizing the Yukon Energy Corp., have spurned calls for Fentie's resignation.

In spite of how Yukoners feel about Fentie or the Yukon Party, fewer feel they are worse off compared to a year ago. Since April, fewer feel they need to restrict their spending to weather the recession, from which the Yukon has remained largely insulated.

In the spring, more than half of Yukoners reported they were trying harder to save money (56 per cent) and reduce spending on "extras" (53 per cent). This summer, 39 per cent are trying to save money and 41 per cent are reducing their shopping budgets.

Another indicator that Yukoners are not feeling the economic pinch are the percentages of those intending to travel this summer; 66 per cent are planning travel within the territory while 46 per cent will vacation Outside.

Fentie has been in his Watson Lake riding this week and unavailable to comment on either the YEC affair or the poll results.